Me and Aldaris
by GrimMoody
Summary: The (ever so slightly) true story of how I met my favorite Starcraft character, and all the random adventures we have. Sometimes having a Protoss around is just plain handy. A journal fiction. This chapter: Maybe I really should keep a sharper eye on the hostile alien...
1. Suddenly

I don't own Starcraft

-t-

It was college. Ho-hum. I walked home with my backpack on my back and my head in the clouds, not noticing my surroundings. I do that too much. Honestly, Fort Bragg Road isn't too bad on the way between school and the house. There's the old church to pass by, some cute houses, two haircutting places, and that new building some guys have been working on for the past month or so. It looks like a residential place, but I'm not sure yet. In Fayetteville we get a lot of businesses that work out of regular-looking houses.

But I'm not paying attention, like I said. I was off in la-la land, enjoying myself. The song "Dark Heart Dawning" by BT was stuck in my head, which isn't too bad of a thing, because it's such a happy, content song. I had just discovered this song, as well as Ashley Carr's remix of Illuminor, and well, techno is one of the happiest things in the world. To me, anyway. I was in an especially good mood because I didn't work that night, and I had the next day off of both work and school because of mid-term break.

"And in the age of love," I sang quietly, "I found my sacred place...where I can hide-"

Whoops! Someone was on the church lawn trying to mow it. I looked straight ahead, avoiding the eyes of the redneck-ish guy starting up his John Deere. No, silly man, no need to smile at me. I wasn't singing at all! Nope! Not me! Politely, I glanced in his direction and nodded. There! I'd officially fulfilled my obligation to be friendly to strangers who are looking at me funny. Moving on!

Thankfully he started up the lawn mower at that point, and I could go on singing my songs. I don't know all the lyrics to Dark Heart Dawning, so I skipped over to a song that I wrote: Cafiza. It's a love song about expresso machine cleaner. Hey, don't judge. If you were a former barista, you'd like cafiza too.

"Up til now I'd say I'm fine," I sang, distancing myself from the lawn mower. Oh good, no one was coming out of the haircutter's place. "But not so today. Parts of me I thought were mine, slowly fall away...uh?"

I stopped singing because of the...stuff. It was like cloud around me, thin wisps of some sort of finger-like mist beginning to circle me. As it thickened and grew, it turned various shades of electric blue and separated me from the street. I swatted at the mist, but it did nothing more than swirl a little faster. I was trapped - but only for a second or two. Soon enough the mists cleared away. However, the sigh of relief caught in my throat. This was no longer Fayetteville.

Instead of the open air of a public street, there were walls of a gold-colored metal, with various computer-ish modules and pipes hanging on from the floor to the fifteen feet high ceiling. Instead of cracked cement under my feet there was some sort of polished floor. And instead of blue sky, the window above a cushioned platform (if it was a seat, it was somewhat too high to sit on comfortably) showed the eerie blackness of space.

Scattered about all these places were various random items. Under the platform was a leaking 2 liter of soda. Leaning against one of the computers was one of those small Japanese tables, complete with a plaid yukata-blanket around the rim. A coverless book, closed, lay about two feet in front of me. For no reason I could think of, I tapped it with my foot.

"What is this?" I mused aloud, because talking to myself is fun. "Is this like one of those 'I spy' games where we have to find everything that doesn't match?"

"_Annyong_?"

The small timid voice came from my left. It was a small, Asian girl, very skinny and pale, halfway hiding behind some kind of elaborate support pillar. She wore old clothes that instantly reminded me of the eighties, only with dulller colors. Her haggard face and the uncertain way her fingers tightened around the corner of the support pillar produced instant sadness. Her reaction towards me was less sympathetic. After a few minutes of staring, her forehead pursed, and she gazed at me with the glance of someone a little disgusted. My heart sank, but I had to ask the question. There wasn't really much point. I already knew the answer.

"_Choson saramiehyo_?"

She nodded. "_Miguk saramieh_?"

"_Ne_." I answered. Yes, I'm an American. And yeah, their "yes" sounds like "no".

She evidently didn't like the sound of that, but at least I was something she could comprehend. Wherever we were? Probably not so much. Heck, I wasn't even sure where I was at that point. We could only look around and guess. The Korean, like a stealthy, suspicious cat stepped out from behind the pillar, curious but uncertain if she could turn her back on me. After a moment, she turned to me and began to speak, pointing at the various things around us. At this point I couldn't keep up. She was going way too fast, and I only know enough korean to make myself look smart in front of non-Koreans.

"_Aniyo, chon-chonhi. Hanguk...er...chosonmal_..." I tried, starting to reach the limits of my vocabulary. It's so weird. My korean book taught me me to ask for three types of alcohol in the first chapter, but I still didn't know how to say that I only know a little of the Korean language. "_Chosonmal mot...chal mot malsseyo_..."

I don't know if she understood me. She was too busy _screaming at the top of her lungs_. I instantly snapped around. Standing not four feet in front of me was a giant Protoss. The markings on his face made it easier to recognise who he was, but there's a lot of difference between a pixelated image and the real thing. Besides, you try suddenly finding yourself in front of an elaborately robed, pissed off reptillian giant with no face and not be at least a little awed.

"Gah! Oh!" After a second, I was able to breath again, and I almost wanted to laugh. "Um, don't scare me like that. Hey, _Agasshee, kwenchannayo. Protoss saramiehyo_."

"Puh-ro-toss?"

"_Ne. kwenchanna_...I think..."

The Asian girl had ducked behind her pillar and didn't show any sign of coming back out again. I didn't blame her. I told her that everything was alright, but Judicator Aldaris was still giving me the stink eye. And quite frankly, when someone has big, glowing red eyes, they can do the stink eye pretty well.

"What are you doing on my vessel?" Aldaris snapped. "How did you get here?"

"I don't know..." I sputtered. "I just appeared-"

"Cease with your prattering and come this way." Aldaris jerked my arm out of the room (and nearly out of its socket) before turning his glare to the Asian. "You also. Quickly!"

The girl hesitated, but I gestured her over before Aldaris got too much angrier. He shoved us both through the halls of his ship (we figured out that part a little later), revealing more passageways, floors, and computer consoles covered in random whatnots. There were half a box of tropical Yankee Candles in one doorway. A blanket was draped over something on the wall, and a pissed Aldaris flung it down to the floor. We had to dodge a mess of colored pencils scattered around the floor to get to our destination.

Two massive doors opened to reveal a huge room filled with an entire wall of monitors and whatever consoles the engineers could fit in between. The glowy, blinky lights sort of stunned me and the Asian, but we had enough presence of mind to step aside and let Mr. Cranky Pants get by. He passed us like a speeding truck, rushing on the console and banging on the keyboard furiously. Well, I think it was a keyboard, but for 'Toss, and the buttons were level with the rest of the console.

"You!" he ordered with the point of his arm. "Sit there and touch nothing!"

We glanced over to the left, where there were a few chairs. Two of them were beside different stations, but we figured that he meant some seating along the back wall and out of reach of the consoles. Aldaris wasn't paying us much attention at the point, but we obeyed anyway. It was like trying to sit on a high stool, but we could climb up on it without looking too silly.

"_Kwenchanna_?" the girl asked sarcastically as she slumped against the seat.

"_Shikurowayo_." I muttered. It wasn't my fault Aldaris was so cranky.

Actually, it really wasn't. Judging from the images and frantically blinking Protoss words scrolling across those dang monitors, it was clear something was going on with his ship. It made me antzy to just sit there, so I looked around instead. This room, like all the others, was also not free from assorted Earth debris. There were some coloring books on the floor, as well as a chipped sculpture of some kind of forest animal. Spying a package of strawberries, I climbed down and got it. They were still stickered into the little plastic bin, and since they were still cold to the touch, they'd probably been in a fridge not too long ago. I ripped off the label.

"Hey, Colleen," I brought the strawberries to the Asian girl. There's no chance in the world that Colleen is her real name, but she looked like a Colleen. "_Mukgoseyo_. Strawberries. _Choayo_."

I snagged one of the strawberries from off the top before handing the rest to Colleen. I wasn't really hungry, but Colleen was a North Korean, so strawberries would be good for her because they're not processed food. I just took one to show that it was food. Colleen, a little reluctantly, paused before she touched the bin of strawberries in her lap. She glanced over at Aldaris before shrugging and just eating the strawberries. She seemed to like them, but I didn't realize until she bit into one that there could have been pesticides or something on it.

For the moment, I had to assess everything. Here we were, an American and a Korean in some strange place filled with scattered items and a cranky Protoss. Since the place was so big, clearly we were in Protoss territory, I guessed. I got the haunted feeling that we were trapped inside Starcraft itself! Though for the moment, I kept those thoughts to myself and went over to a window-looking thing (it might have been another monitor at first glance) and peered outwards. I could see the graceful fins of a Protoss starship blocking part of the view. The rest of the view was just stars.

_Oh_. I realized. _We're in space. We literally could be anywhere now._

Some of the blinking lights on the various monitors stopped. A red warning message still appeared on the main monitor Aldaris was using, but he seemed a little calmer than before. Aldaris stared at his monitors with a sigh. He kicked away a set of tupperware out from under the console and started to type again. A blank side screen lit up, revealing a picture of a friendly, familiar planet.

"Oh!" I exclaimed. "Good, we're still at Earth. Awesome."

As if he'd forgotten us in the past two seconds, Aldaris snapped around, astounded and madder than ever, though his eyes paled a shade or two. "You mean to say I have come this far?"

"Well, yeah. I should have guessed. All this stuff on your ship is Earth stuff."

Aldaris literally paled. I didn't think reptile skin could do that. Once again, he returned to ignoring us and started typing on his computer again. An assortment of Protoss lettering crossed several of the monitors, and Aldaris pounded his fist against the console. Whatever he'd just discovered, he didn't like it.

"So what exactly is going on?" I asked. "How did we get here?"

Aldaris glared at me a moment, but he must have guessed there was no harm in answering my question. He sighed...or the Protoss equivalent. I don't know if they have normal lungs or what.

"There is...a problem with my vessel. I do not know precisely what it is." he punched a few more buttons on his console. "There seems to have been a power surge of some sort that is affecting my vessel's recall ability. Now..." here he turned back to me, leaning down a little to get that perfect glare to full affect. "What exactly were you doing?"

"Me? I was walking down the street." I shrugged. "Colleen here, erm, actually I don't know her real name. Uh, hey,_ irumi mwoyehyo_?"

"_Na_?" Colleen looked up from her strawberries. She was half finished already. "_Lee Cheonha_."

"Bethany Beverly-_ehyo_." I responded, then turned back to Aldaris. "Yeah, she's Cheonha, and I'm Bethany."

"That is not what I meant." If Aldaris narrowed his eyes any further he was going to be walking around with his eyes shut. "Are you aware of any sort of human technology that is capable of interfering with my systems?"

"Y'know," I folded my arms. "Weird you're just demandin' information, when if I had the sort of job which entailed having that information I wouldn't tell you. As it so turns out, all I know is that my government's cut spending on space exploration."

"What? You are lying!" Aldaris rose to his full height, shoving a finger in my face. "You mean to tell me that the United Earth Directorate has cancelled its own fleets and restrained them to this sector? Impossible! I know that at this very time they are in the Koprullu Sector, completing whatever scheme they can to dominate those few pathetic human worlds."

I blinked. He was so serious. He simply had no clue what he was in for, and I got the sense he knew I was feeling bad for him. This didn't make him any less angry.

"Look at that screen." I pointed to the picture of the Earth. "That's live monitoring, right? So if anything goes by, you'll see it?"

"Yes..."

"Okay then. If the UED is out there, then why aren't there any UED ships? It's because there are none. All you're liable to see is some TV satellites and whatnot. Hey, wait a minute. How close are we to the planet right now?"

"I do not know how to convert our measurements into yours." Aldaris replied, getting more irritated at by the minute. "Why?"

"Uh, well, my dad's a former NASA test subject, and he says that we've got a pretty good range on being able to detect stuff in space. There's a good chance they may know you're here. You might want to hide behind the moon or something. It should block the signals from Earth, I think."

"And you're telling me this because...?"

"Simple." I grinned. "This is insanely interesting, and I want to find out what happens!"

Aldaris raised an eyebrow at that, but for the moment, he just placed his hands over two flat panels. They lit up as he moved his fingers, reacting like a theremin to his motions. The view on the screens changed with the movement of the ship, and we cruised over toward the moon. It was pretty cool to see it up close.

"So what we know so far is that there was a power surge," I tapped my chin. "And that somehow zapped a bunch of random Earth stuff - including some people - and they all got sucked on your ship. I feel bad, though. There's no way to tell where all this stuff came from. I hope we didn't take anything from a poor person."

"Huh? There's people? Music to my ears!" a new voice said, with footsteps accompanying it. "What's going on?

It was someone I didn't know. Considering all the random stuff that was on the ship, I guess I shouldn't have been expecting someone familiar. It was a black guy, with soft features but pretty well built - which was actually a little surprising, as he was wearing a Doctor Who shirt and giant scarf, typical of the fourth Doctor. One doesn't expect nerds to work out.

_Snap_! I tried my hardest not to laugh. _What a golden opportunity! _

"Why, it's one of our fans!" I exclaimed in the closest thing I could to a British accent, rushing over to shake his hand. "Why, it's always great to meet someone who watches the show!"

"Wha? Who are you?" the stunned guy let me shake his hand. He was probably too busy staring at everything to resist.

"I know I don't look anything like my counterpart on the show, but I'm Romana!" I gleefully giggled. "And of course, you probably won't recognise the Doctor. He's not quite what he looks to be on the television show. It isn't always exactly accurate, you know."

I gestured over at Aldaris, and quite frankly, the look I got on both guys' faces was worth it. Aldaris glared again and just turned back to the computer, but the new guy was just aghast. His mouth dropped open, and for a moment, he could do little more than make little gasping sounds.

"Ah...ah...so...you mean the show is...real?" he gasped, in a very nice accent. Black guys with British accents are hot. "It's true?"

"The earlier shows were a bit more accurate." I laughed. "These new ones? Not so much. And the Doctor doesn't regenerate. He just lives a long time."

"Do not listen to any of the nonsense she is telling you." Aldaris muttered. "The girl is lying."

"Aw, man, you didn't have to be such a spoilsport." I stuck my tongue out. "Come on, Aldaris, you have to think that's at least a little funny."

With the impact of a jackhammer, Aldaris slammed his fist against the console. All three humans in the room jumped. The Protoss turned around slowly for the full impact of his evil eyes. Heck, it's like the dude practiced in front of a mirror to look as scary as possible.

"What did you say?" Aldaris snarled. "How is it that you know my name?"

"You...said it?"

"I most certainly did not." he stepped a little forward, and I stepped back. My strides aren't as long as his. "I made the specific point of _not _telling you."

"Uh...uh..." I was still kinda stunned from his display. I flatter myself that I'm a brave person, but sometimes that's just not true. It didn't help that the Brit had backed up a couple steps so that anything bad that happened would only happen to me. In his defense, Aldaris looked like he was going to spontaneously develop laser eyes any second.

"SPEAK!"

"Well...you see..." I winced. "The thing is-"

Before I could continue, the computer behind Aldaris suddenly started to beep. Aldaris whipped around (why in the world wasn't there a chair at that station?) and started hammering on the controls. His fingers flew, and he said something I didn't understand, but probably wasn't the nicest in polite company.

"_Chigum musun irawyo_?" Cheonha huffed.

"Is it the power surge?" I asked, rushing as close as I dared to the console to get a better look.

"Power surge?" the Brit raised an eyebrow. "Wait, is that what-"

SNAP! Well, actually, it only felt like a snap. It didn't really sound like anything. As far as looks went, it was a brilliant flash of many layers of light, like a hand of lightning closing its fingers around me. And then instantly disappeared. Once again, I had transported. This time, the situation was a little different. I wasn't in Fayetteville, or on Aldaris' ship. I was in water, where I could not see the surface. I froze. Right there, a mere five feet in front of me, were the distinctive profiles of two large sharks.

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Author's Notes:

- Hi, guys! This is going to be a journal-type fiction, which will be part real and part fanfiction. I'll update it for as long as I wish to keep a journal, though I do have a specific ending in mind whenever it comes to that point. I plan on updating fairly often, only be sure to cut this story some slack. It's a little more stream of consciousness rather than planned, so it may not always be perfect. But of course, whose journal is?

- I'm not making it up. My korean book really did teach how to ask for three different alcohols in the first chapter. There's _maekju chuseyo _to ask for beer, _yongju chuseyo_ to ask for foreign liquor, and _soju chuseyo_ to ask for Korean liquor.


	2. Sevengills and Strangers

I was somewhere in the ocean. I didn't know where, having just teleported there randomly. That meant that not even Aldaris knew where I was, and that's assuming he wanted to find me. That would be opportune. Right now, I'm staring at sharks. There are at least two of them. I think I saw a third, but that might have been the second shark swimming around some rocks.

My eye was focused on the closer shark. Its dorsal fin was pushed far on its back, almost on the tail instead of on the back where most sharks have them. The mottled grey skin of the shark, speckled with all manner of smudges and spots, gave it the look of something very old, like a ten foot antique swimming through the bay. Its iris stayed focused on me, even as it swam slowly to my left.

_Hello, cow shark!_ I waved. _Moo!_

I like cow sharks. They're my favorite sharks. Or specifically, the sevengill sharks are my favorite, because their jaws look legitimately like "happy to see you!" smiles. There are four different types of cow sharks, and from the fact there was enough light to see by, these must be broadnose sevengills. All the rest of the cow sharks are deep water critters, most of the time.

_Alright, Nerdy._ I pushed forward in the water. _Predators like weak prey. I'm a strong fish! I'm a strong fish!_

Maybe there wasn't too much reason to worry. Sevengills have five unprovoked attacks on humans in the past 430 years, but I sure didn't plan on being number six. My sudden teleportation might have scared them, and I wasn't going to stick around. Or swim very fast. I am a strong, peaceful fish, and I don't have any reason to get away from sharks. Uh-huh. Yep. In no danger at all. So I peacefully kicked off my shoes and hoped for the best.

It took me about this long to figure out that I was still breathing. Sharks get one's attention immediately, but suffocation is a much more certain danger in the water. This sort of freaked me out in a good way for a second, because I had written a story once about a girl who learned she could breathe in water. Could I do the same? No. It took me a minute to find a strange ring around my neck. I was too busy pretending to be a strong fish to look very much.

The sevengills seemed only cautious of me, so I took a glance down at the thing. It was a weird, metal ring, far too big for my neck. With swimming, the water pushed it back against me, but I noticed that every time I finished a stroke and the momentum slowed down, the necklace would turn a little red in one spot. The red would disappear whenever it was next to my skin. So I just stuck it under my shirt and hoped it stayed in place.

_Okay, cool._ I thought. _Here's a reliable way to breathe, as long as I'm careful. _

Apparently me and the dictionary have different definitions of "careful". Or that's what people tell me, because right at that moment, I swam closer to the sevengills. I'm not a diver, so who knows when I would get the chance again?

_Hello, Sevens!_ I wish I was telepathic with animals. Then I'd tell the squirrels I'd never hurt them, and these sharks that I'm their friend. _I will name you Steve, and you're Susie. Actually, I can't tell if you're male or female, but whatever._

In my mind, I summoned up the song by Ashley Carr (he's a dude, not a chick) and started to drift through the dangerous waters. The combination of sevengills and trance left me hypnotized, and I drifted like seaweed through the murky waters, contented as I had never been before. It was magical.

While the sevengills, as I expected, plain avoided me, it was getting to the point where I was pushing my luck. Even though captive sevengills are more dangerous than free ones, they've all got teeth. I began to slowly make my way to the surface, in a low slope, diagonal sort of way. There was no sense in making the sevengills think I was some sort of fleeing prey, or for that matter I didn't want to get the bends.

_Bethany, are you there?_

It was Aldaris! Wow, he really was going to get me out? Awesome! I didn't know where the shore was, so that's handy. Given that he pulled me and Cheonha from different sides of the earth, there was also no telling whose coast the nearest shore was.

_Yep, I'm here_. I thought back at him, hoping he could hear. _Hey, what's this collar-thing on me?_

_It is an emergency field generator. The device recalls along with the subject in the event of higher or lower pressure levels outside the programmed-in safety levels._

_Hey, that's handy._

_Not quite. The device is designed for Protoss physiology. While there are no recorded attempts of human use, testing on similar creatures has shown evidence of poisoning the subject._

_Wait, WHAT? You're not making that up, are you?_

_I do not deceive even humans. This device involves the use of chemicals that dissolve into breathable atmosphere. In lung-based creatures, these chemicals are inhaled prior to full dissolution and can produce negative effects._

_So you're saying I need to get up to the surface ASAP._

_That would be correct._

_Okay, cool._ I glanced down at the collar a bit. _Uh, hey, wait a minute. What does it mean when the collar starts blinking red?_

_It means hurry._

Aldaris' tone of voice was really starting to bug me. Well, sharks or no sharks, up I went. As I swam, little zaps of electrical-looking lines started to warble in the water around my head. It doesn't take a Protoss engineer to figure out what that means. I pushed harder against the narrowing depth of the water, but like I said, I'm no diver. The field around my head collapsed without even a chance for me to get a good breath in, and I choked. But, saltwater up my nose or no, I had to make it to the surface. With burning nostrils, throat, and eyes, I pushed my way up to the light.

And slammed into the floor! Blinking the saltwater out of my eyes, I guessed I was back in Aldaris' ship. I had to guess because I couldn't look. First of all my glasses (yay! They're still on me!) were wet, and secondly a sickness had hold of me, and darkness filled my eyes. Forcing myself to hack and cough, I tried to get the water out of my system. I started shaking. Remembering the poison Aldaris mentioned, I forced myself to exhale as much as possible. Pretty soon I had to stop, because if I kept it up I'd throw up. I'll never forget laying on that gold colored floor like a half-blind fish gasping for air.

"Oi! Are you alright?" That was the black British guy, I assumed. I felt a blanket go around me, and he started pulling at my shoulders. "Come over here and lay down a minute. Maybe there's some dry clothing somewhere around."

It might have been sound advice, except I felt like I was going to throw up if I moved. Maybe that was the poison Aldaris was talking about. Speaking of him, the massive doors (I keep saying "massive" and "large", but all this must be normal to 'Toss) opened and in the disgruntled reptile came.

"Where is the generator?" I couldn't see him, but I could feel Aldaris' shadow falling over me. "Return it at once."

I was about as likely for me to be able to do anything more complex than breathing at that moment than I was going to sprout wings and fly. Fortunately the British guy seemed to understand what Aldaris was talking about.

"You mean this thing?" the human said. "How do you get it off?"

"Never mind. Let me." Aldaris huffed. He leaned over and did something (I was too dizzy to see what) and the collar easily hinged open and came off my neck. He snapped it away as if insulted I had used the thing. Well, excuse me for wanting to live. I heard the doors go, so that probably meant Aldaris was gone.

"That bastard." the Brit snapped. "He probably only wanted this thing back. Doesn't care about you at all."

"Ungggh..." I moaned. "Bad. Very bad. Bucket."

"What'd she say?" said an unfamiliar voice.

"She said we better find a pail." the Brit answered. "She's going to be sick, I think."

Now for then I wasn't. The pain started to subside at that point, and I gained enough clarity to look around. The place had the same gold-ish architecture as the rest of Aldaris' ship, but the particular room we were in was much larger than the one we'd been in before (me and the Brit guy, that is). There were no computers in it, and as far as Protoss technology went only had these funny looking purplish boxes stacked to the left of the door, labelled only with strange Protoss lettering. Like the rest of the ship, various random stuff from earth was scattered about. I didn't look too much, but I did manage to spot an open tin of vanilla chai teabags and a closed suitcase.

The two guys in the room tried to find a bucket or some such equivalent, but unfortunately all of the container-like stuff in the room was unfit for vomiting. The closest they found was a chipped ceramic bowl. Fortunately, the nausea settled down at that point. Clutching the towel as tightly as I could around me (it wasn't all that big), I made my way over to the side of the room and sat against the wall. The British guy put the bowl next to me just in case.

"What happened?" asked a tall, brunet guy, who came and sat down by me. Judging from his voice, he sounded like an American. "Did you inhale a lot of water or something?"

"No." after another deep breath I was able to talk a little more. "Apparently that 'Toss underwater breathing device I was wearing doesn't work so well on humans. Aldaris said it could poison me."

"Pfft. That's lovely." The Brit snorted. "So instead of getting eaten by sharks or drowning, you can now die of poisoning."

"You guys saw all that?"

"We did." said the white guy. "That is, until this guy over here started freaking out and Aldaris made us come in this storage room."

"They were _sharks_. I'm not supposed to freak out about sharks?"

"They actually weren't so bad." I said. "They were just sevengills. Sevengills aren't that violent unless you're trying to capture them. I even read a book once about a guy that would clean out their aquariums."

"Not a job I would take." the Brit walked towards me and the other guy, some clothes in his arm. "Once you feel well enough, you can wear these. They're not very nice looking, I'm afraid, but they're dry. I'm Toby, by the way. Toby Collins."

"Bethany Beverly." I answered, taking the clothes from Toby and then turning to the other dude. "And you?"

"John Statkus." he said. "Nice to meet you."

"Same." I coughed. "Oh hey, where's Cheonha?"

"Chon-ah?" the British guy raised an eyebrow as he sat down to my left. "You mean that Asian girl?"

"Yeah."

"We all teleported out in that last...whatever it was." John said. "Just like you were sent to the ocean, she disappeared to somewhere else. At least, that's what happened to the rest of us."

"But you weren't there." I protested. "Were you?"

"Oh, I could hear you talking to Aldaris earlier." John rolled his eyes. "You really think I was going to come out of hiding and let him see me?"

"He probably found you when you teleported." Toby guessed. "Maybe his computer can trace where everyone goes to find them. That would explain how he found us so quickly."

John nodded. "Makes sense. It didn't take him long to find me at all. I got stuck in this retirement neighborhood. I think it was in Florida or something, because everyone kept wearing these tropical shirts. I was this close to calling someone and telling them what happened, but he zapped me back up before I knew it."

"That's kinda funny." I grinned. "What about you, Toby?"

"My story isn't that adventurous. I just teleported in to New York City." Toby scratched his temple. "Huh, well, I think it was New York City. There were billboards everywhere, and I thought I saw Times Square up ahead. I was just about to go there when Aldaris told me to go somewhere where no one could see me."

John gasped. "And you _listened_?"

"Well...yes..." Toby shrugged sheepishly. "I was right next to an alleyway, and I had an impulse."

"You could have escaped!" John insisted. "You should have stayed where in public!"

"I don't know if that would do any good." I said. "If Aldaris is interested in keeping us here, he'd have gotten Toby here eventually. I just hope he does the same for Cheonha. The poor thing is a North Korean, and it would suck if she got out of that craphole of a country just to...I don't know, teleport to a desert and thirst to death or something. I wish I knew where she was..."

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Author's Notes:

- And in the next chapter, we'll find out what happened to our Asian friend. For now, cliffhanger! See us next time, same nerd channel, same nerd time. Or whenever I feel like uploading the next chapter.


	3. The North Korean Perspective

Get ready for a perspective change!

-t-

Cheonha didn't know what was going on. Only a few seconds ago she had been on an alien ship with a weird Miguk, and now she stood in on a path in a dark forest. It wasn't entirely dark. A few sparce electric lights lit the way on both sides. One part of the road, back behind her, went further into the forest, and the other led out into a more open area with fields. Cheonha went toward the open side, the mostly empty plastic bin of strawberries still in her hand. As strange as her stomach was starting to feel, she wasn't sure she wanted to get rid of her only source of food.

_Why are all these lights on?_ Cheonha wondered. _That's a huge waste of electricity. An important person must live here._

Cheonha shuddered. She didn't like the idea of getting on the wrong side of a powerful government official. She hoped they were the nice sort of official that only threw tresspassers off their property instead of sicking the dogs or throwing them in prison. For the moment, there didn't seem to be any mansions or fancy gates or important looking people. Only fields of tall wheat on both sides.

_I've never seen a person as rich as this..._ Cheonha blinked. _He doesn't even have any guards. I must be deep in his property. He better harvest this soon, before someone comes and steals it._

Cheonha walked on. There were more fields and more roads, like a strange world made entirely without people but wheat stalks in their place. In the cherry glow of the electric lights, it was almost a magical sight, as if Cheonha had stumbled on a world where food was plenty and there was no collective farm party member to take it from her.

A little green shed stood at a crossroads up ahead. Without any reason other than curiosity, Cheonha went up to it to investigate. It was a tin shed, and the green paint that looked whole in the dark and distance actually proved to be peeling and doing only a half-job of covering the rust. It was locked only with a chain and padlock, so Cheonha could open the door a crack and see what was inside: old harvesting equipment, some of which would not have looked operable to anyone from countries wealthier than North Korea.

_This must be the worker's tools_. Cheonha decided. _Maybe the master keeps his better tools somewhere else. It would take a long time to harvest the fields with only these. I hope he has lots of horses._

Cheonha paused, laughing a bit at herself. Why in the world was she wishing well to some official who not only had never met her, but could have her shot at his leisure? Then again, if the _Miguk saram _back on Aldaris' ship had been teleported away from her home just as Cheonha had been, then perhaps she was now in a different place entirely. Maybe in this country it was illegal to shoot unarmed trespassers.

A sound awoke Cheonha out of her thoughts and nearly scared her half to death. It was the sound of an engine, and the headlights that accompanied it were already shining only a few feet away from her. Cheonha immediately dashed around the tin shed, hiding among the wheat stems. Much to her horror, the radiating light from the street didn't move away. The car engine slowed, and the voice of a foreigner sounded. Cheonha's stomach began to turn. She'd long since dropped the strawberry bin, and if that man got any closer, she was going to lose her strawberries.

Her heart (and some strawberries) jumped up to her throat as she heard the most horrifying sound in the world: a dog's bark. Only the rich had dogs, and no dog was friendly. Where she was from, people would debate whether or not it was worse to end up in the labor camp or in the jaws of a dog, if they could have said so without incurring the wrath of a snitch. Cheonha had always figured that a dog was better, because death came sooner. Now that the sniffling and snuffling of a canine nose came closer and her hypothetical was reality, her courage dissipated, and she would have given up that fate for a camp instantly. Cheonha ducked her head under her arms.

"Wuff!" came a deep, lazy-sounding bark. "Woo-woo, wuff!"

Cheonha peeked to find a floppy-looking dog with skin so thick and loose it hung over the dog's eyes. It was barking, but not at her. It was calling for its master. Immediately Cheonha came to her senses and ran off through the wheat.

_I can't escape! _ Cheonha ran frantically, knowing she left a clear trail broken wheat as she went. _Dogs always find you!_

In her haste, Cheonha tripped over her own feet; the run was too hard, and her stomach was too uneasy. All at once she slammed into the ground, wheat stalks slapping her in the face and confusing her sense of direction. It was all she could do to sit up as footsteps caught up with her. Some of these belonged to the dog. The others belonged to a man.

He was a tall fellow in dirty overalls, tan and wrinkled from constant exposure to the sun. The dark-haired man's eyes widened at the sight of Cheonha. She cringed, waiting for him to start yelling. She almost jumped out of his skin when he started laughing instead, a great big horse laugh that could almost make the ground shake.

Still laughing, the man said...something. Cheonha only stared pitifully at the man, too confused to try and answer. It was clear that this man was a foreigner, and Cheonha's few lessons in english weren't even good enough for her to confirm that it was that language he was speaking. Her confusion didn't escape him, and the man leaned down, speaking a little more slowly and loudly. When Cheonha didn't answer, he simply rubbed his chin and patted the dog on the head. After a moment, he pointed to her ankle and said something else.

"Ah..." Cheonha tried, pointing to her ankle. "_Che balmukgi ap'ayo..._"

The man nodded as if he understood, but his eyes were as blank and uncomprehending as before. He didn't know the language, clearly. Cheonha gave up and tried to get to her feet. This guy didn't seem so bad, so maybe he would just let her go. No such luck. As soon as she tried to get up, he grabbed her arm and began to pull her up. Fearfully Cheonha tried to pull away.

The man spoke again, and for the first time Cheonha recognised one of his words: "okay". That was a word she knew from english, and remembered it because it was so easy. "Okay" meant something like "_kwenchanna_", and the _Yonguk _and _Miguk _said it a lot. Was he really speaking english, though? Not that it mattered, as she didn't even know enough english to buy a loaf of bread. Still, the guy didn't seem very mean, and she wasn't going to get away anyway. She allowed him to lead her back to the road, and he supported her weak ankle as she went along.

It was slow going, but they eventually made it back to his vehicle: an old, beat-up blue truck that looked as rusty as the tin shed. Cheonha felt much better: maybe this man was just a normal worker and not a master. Maybe she wouldn't get arrested, then. Of course, there was no telling what he was going to do to her, but Cheonha had no choice but to get in the passenger side of the funny-smelling truck. It reeked of gas and old dog, the latter of which was made perfectly clear as the flappy dog jumped in through the driver's side and went to the cramped seat in the back to lay down. In came the worker man, and off they went down the road.

Cheonha eyed the dog. It was getting curious, and kept sniffing her. But he was clearly not an attack dog. Cheonha had never seen a friendly dog, though her grandfather said he used to have a dog when he was young. Despite herself, Cheonha reached back to pet it.

"_Annyong, dong-saeng..._"

The man smiled and said something that sounded friendly. Cheonha didn't answer. There was no point.

It wasn't long before the two of them reached a house, just a few yards off the main road. Cheonha gasped at the sight of it. This man didn't live in a worker's hovel, but in a two-story house painted white, with green shutters on each window. The porch was wide, with rocking chairs and a swing on it, barred off not by iron, but by pleasant wooden rails. The roof didn't look leaky, but was covered in dark shingles. Bright yellow electric lights - not underpowered orange ones - lit up the windows.

_He lives in a mansion!_

This freaked out Cheonha even more, and only reluctantly did she get out of the truck. It was starting to get cold outside, and the more Cheonha thought about it, the more she really wanted to see the inside of the "mansion", even if she was going to be arrested soon. She'd never been in a rich person's home before, and she wanted to make the most of it. She let the man lead her in.

The inside of the place dazzled her. There were real carpets on the most beautiful hardwood floors she'd ever seen, and before she did anything else, Cheonha kicked off her shoes. She was not going to track dirt in a house like that, though it gave her the shock of her life when the man didn't remove his dirty boots. He left her standing there a moment on her one good ankle as he called out something. A woman's voice responded, and Cheonha let the foreigners talk as she took in the rest of the sights.

It was a strange mansion. Was it normal for rich people to put pictures of themselves and their families on the wall next to the stairs? And was it normal for there to be a chicken painting on the wall in the dining room? Cheonha stared to the left and took in the sights of a dining room: it had a grand, rectangular table with chairs that all matched and had cushions on the bottom. A massive china cabinet held beautiful dishes with rich-looking people in bizarre clothes and wigs, and also glass cups with cartoon characters on them. The aforementioned chicken picture hung on the wall next to a door, which Cheonha guessed led to the kitchen.

To the right was the living room, it was gorgeous. A piano, not quite as fancy as the one at her school but a nice wooden kind, stood in the corner. More pictures of family were on the wall, as well as a weird, colorful canvas that Cheonha guessed was done by someone in the house. There was also a picture of a strange, brown-bearded man on the wall, but it wasn't a photograph. She wondered if that was the "Great Leader" of these people. However, Cheonha's heart belonged to the tan, plush couches that lined the walls. She would love to cuddle up on just one of their cushions and sleep for hours. Actually, when was the last time she'd slept? When she was zapped up on Aldaris' _kongangpeh_, it had been at the end of a long workday in the rice fields, and she'd just barely finished up with a wash in the river.

It was as this point that the man came back, with a pleasant looking woman in a plaid shirt and jeans at his side. The blonde spoke nicely to Cheonha, but in a tone that sounded like she was talking to a child. Suspicious again, Cheonha didn't answer. The man, however, brought her to the living room before the moment could get any more awkward. He sat her in a plush chair that she hadn't seen from the front room, and only Cheonha's uncertainty kept her from falling asleep then and there.

The woman brought in a little metal tray and set it before her, leaving a moment later. Though Cheonha hadn't seen the man go, he came back with a blue plastic bucket and a towel, gesturing toward the Korean's leg. She allowed him to hold it over the bucket, and he dripped a few drops of water on it. They were hot, and Cheonha winced. The man, from a pitcher she hadn't seen, poured some water into the steaming bucket and tried again. The water wasn't so bad this time, and Cheonha set it carefully in the bucket to acclimate. The warm water felt wonderful on her leg, and now she really thought she was going to go to sleep.

But she wasn't, and a wondrous smell told her so. The woman, the man's wife, she guessed, brought out a bowl and a plate, and set them on the metal tray. The bowl held a salad, with cucumbers and tiny tomatoes - Cheonha's favorite. She didn't know what the slices of dark green were, but everything in the bowl was a fresh vegetable. Vegetables! When were they ever this fresh? Were they straight from the garden? Certainly these generous people would get in trouble with their collective farm administrator. No one was allowed to have food without first turning it over to the authorities.

The plate held weird things that Cheonha had never seen before. They were two yellow shells, holding more tomatoes, little bits of cheese, and...was that...could it be? Yes, it was meat. Not only meat, but the the most heavenly meat Cheonha had ever smelled. It wasn't stringy goose dried out for long rationing, but robust, spicy...something. Cheonha was taught never to ask questions about food, but to clean her plate (when she had a plate). She certainly wasn't going to rebel now. It would be unprincipled of her to refuse.

Cheonha set into the food, trying her hardest to take her time and chew, and also use the fork provided instead of her fingers. Rushing food was never a good idea, and she wanted to savor this. But as Cheonha bit into the salad, eating the delicious green whatevers, she started to cry. These people had given her food, and she hadn't begged or promised them work. Without question or hesitation they took care of her and let her into their house, even though she was certainly not dressed for a mansion. Cheonha tried hard to swallow her food before her sobs choked her. Why were these people being so nice? What did they have to gain from it? They weren't going to sell her, were they? But of course, all of this food was expensive, especially the meat. Who would treat a slave this well?

The wife sympathetically patted Cheonha on the shoulder, assuring her with her almost magical foreign words. Despite not knowing what it meant, Cheonha nodded and tried to stop crying. How rude of her. She must try to be more polite to the nice couple. They went away and started talking in the front room, but Cheonha didn't mind. She preferred to eat alone for the moment anyway, and it was easier to stop crying with them gone. She focused on the food and nothing else. She couldn't finish half of it.

_It's just as well. I can't spoil myself today because there's no telling how little I will have tomorrow._

With a little reluctance, Cheonha pushed the tray back. She pulled her foot out of the water and dried it on the towel. She had the feeling that she should have done something more, like put up the dishes or dump out the bucket. Yes, she was certain that manners required something from her, only the chair was so comfortable, the her stomach was beyond content, and her day had been so long that just as she had resolved to do something, Cheonha fell asleep. She didn't notice when the couple came in and took everything away. The woman put a blanket over her, and without waking Cheonha's hands pulled it tightly around her shoulders.

What seemed like moments later, Cheonha woke. She was still in the mansion, and a small lamp was still on, giving only a small glow to the mostly darkened room. Cheonha wanted to go back to sleep but something was wrong. There was a presence in the room, and not altogether a pleasant one. Look as she might, Cheonha could see no one. Words popped up in her mind, which she managed to recognize as english. And she didn't get it. After a moment, the words turned into images and feelings, and Cheonha understood.

_It's Aldarisu. He has to talk like this because he has no mouth. _ she rolled her eyes and snuggled into the chair. _What do you want?_

Of course Aldaris didn't understand her korean, so she found she had to concentrate a little harder to communicate her feelings telepathically. Aldaris didn't argue with her. He simply said to get ready to return to the ship.

_Shut up and go away. _ Cheonha "said". _ I don't care and I want to stay here._

Cheonha clenched her fists tightly and tried to force herself to fall asleep. Much to her surprise, Aldaris didn't respond. The annoyed presense simply left. Relaxing, Cheonha sighed and relaxed. Maybe the rich people would let her work on their farm. She didn't mind working fields if she could eat like that every day!

Suddenly, the light got brighter. Cheonha grudgingly lifted her head and blinked. Were the rich people awake? As soon as her eyes adjusted, Cheonha found herself, chair, blanket, and all, inside a vast room with the same architecture as the alien spaceship she'd already seen, still scattered with random objects, as well as three other humans sitting there, staring at her. One was that same, doofus-looking _Miguk saram_ from earlier.

"Aaaah!" Cheonha screamed in anger. "_ALDARISU PABOYAH!_"

With that, Cheonha stuffed her head under the blanket again and tried to go back to sleep, hating the _Protossu saram_ with all her heart.

\\\\\

Author's Notes:

- The "green whatevers" are bell peppers. Cheonha's having salad and tacos for dinner.


	4. Us Prisoners

"So, where are you guys from?" I asked. If I was going to be stuck in the back of Aldaris' ship with these people, I might as well get to know them. "I got zapped here from America."

"Me too." John stretched out his legs. "I'm from California."

"I'm from London." Toby said. "We'll be lucky if he brings us back to where we live."

"We'll be lucky if we live." John retorted as he picked up a random pack of Scottish shortbread. He'd found it on the floor, but since it was still in its package, it was probably safe to eat. "Aldaris hates humans."

"How do you know so much about the alien?" Toby asked me and John. "You're acting as if you know who he is."

"We do." John answered. "What makes things really strange is that he shouldn't even be here right now. He's not real. He's a fictitious character from the game Starcraft."

"You haven't even heard of it?"I asked. "Starcraft was one of the most popular computer games out there in the past ten years. That, and Starcraft II ads have been everywhere, since Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm just came out."

"Not where I live." Toby thought a moment. "Wait, was it that ad with the alien woman, and where a spaceship crashed into the Earth?"

"That wasn't Earth." John said. "Starcraft takes place in the K Sector."

"Oh. So he's really not supposed to be here. Well, as bizarre as all of this has been, I wouldn't want to miss it for the world." Toby turned to me. "So does he really hate humans?"

"Oh yeah." I nodded. "We're like little barbarians to him. Or no, more like animals that can't take care of ourselves. The good news is, he's not particularly violent and probably won't kill us."

John raised an eyebrow. "Probably?"

"Probably. He's a pretty civilized guy who doesn't like to get his hands dirty. I don't see him stabbing us or anything like that."

"Do you see him teleporting us out into the dead of space?"

"Uh...maybe..."

"So he's definitely NOT the Doctor." Toby sighed and leaned back against the wall. "My first space adventure, and it goes like this..."

"What, were you expecting to go on adventures in space?" John snorted, nibbling a little shortbread. "You're not one of those crazy people that think aliens are just waiting out there, ready to show us the secrets of the universe?"

"No, of course not. It's just that this one," - Toby gestured over toward me - "Got me all excited for a minute there with her Doctor talk. But I do think we should try to be optimistic. Come on, we should try to think of what we should do next."

"The only things we can do," Toby said between bites of shortbread. "Is either wait and see or go attack him."

"Attacking would be bad." I yawned before continuing. "Even assuming we can defeat a giant reptile monster, he's the only one who knows how this ship works. Besides, I like Protoss. I don't want to fight them."

Toby nodded. "We should be open to new cultures and people."

"Yeah, because Aldaris is so open." John rolled his eyes. "Fine. So what do you open people suggest we do?"

With a burst of electricity to my left, all conversation ceased. We jumped back as the blue glow grew. It subsided only a few seconds later, and there before us was nothing scary: just Cheonha, sitting in a sofa-chair, covered by a blanket. Her eyes wrinkled, and she opened them only wide enough to look around. Spotting us, her grumpy grimace deepened.

"_ALDARISU_!" she screamed. "_ALDARISU PAHBOYAH_!"

With that, Cheonha pulled the blanket over her head and hunkered down into her chair. We just stared at one another, then as the shock passed, we sat back down again, this time with Toby at a better angle to see behind himself; it's not exactly pleasant when a big ball of electricity suddenly appears behind you.

"The real issue here is what Aldaris wants to do." I said, making sure my voice wasn't too loud so Cheonha could sleep. "He's in a strange place with a bunch of weirdo little midgets running around. His ship can't run forever without fuel and he's got to figure out how he got here in the first place. Well, unless all of you are figments of my imagination and I'm dreaming all of this stuff while locked up in an asylum."

Toby jokingly poked his arm. "No, I'm pretty sure I'm real."

"I would have way better insane delusions." John added. "With better food for one. And something to drink besides ginseng soda."

"Ginseng soda? Seriously?"

"Oh yeah." John turned around for a minute and shuffled around until he found a bottle, then held it up for me to see. "Orange flavor, no less."

"Ew. Well, at least my delusion has aliens." I grinned. "Anyway, sooner or later Aldaris is going to have to get help from earth, even if it's as little as something to power this ship. So it's more or less an inevitability that people are going to find out about him. So what we need to do is get him to tell people that he's here, and then no one will get too freaked out. So we can't tell anybody about him until he's ready."

"Wait, what? No!" John exclaimed. "That could be dangerous! There's no telling what he'll do if we just let him do what he wants! He could take us by surprise!"

"One ship?" Toby questioned. "Unless he has nukes, I don't see how one spaceship can do anything to Earth."

"Besides, even nukes aren't all that powerful on a global scale." I pointed out. "Fat Man and Little Boy didn't take out the entirety of Nagasaki and Hiroshima."

"That makes me feel better." John huffed, folding his arms. "Need I remind you what the Protoss did to Chau Sara? They _blew the entire thing up_."

"Wait, WHAT?" Toby's eyes widened to the size of truck tires. "They can do that?"

"Again, you're making a lot of assumptions about one ship." I tried again. "I very much doubt-"

"And what if he decides to call his friends, hm?" John retorted. "Don't you try and say that he can't contact the K-Sector from here, because if the humans in Starcraft could send transmissions back and forth from here to the K-Sector, then so can 'Toss. I say our only option is to destroy the ship. We might not get back to Earth, but at least we can save...uh, save it."

The stuttering wasn't his fault. John was the loudest of us, and he was also facing Cheonha, and was the first one to see her disgruntled face as it peeked out from under the blanket. Like a very cranky bear, she silently threatened John's life before hiding back under her covering. John cleared his throat and settled down.

"You're forgetting that this isn't his universe." I said, glad that he probably wouldn't interrupt me again. "He can contact the 'K-Sector' all he wants - it's there in the Starcraft world, not here, just like the UED isn't here. Secondly, if he was going to send a message back home, he's had plenty of time to do so since we got here. And, thirdly, I really wouldn't start planning an attack back here, not where he can hear us."

"He's probably at the bridge, and we're pretty far back in the ship." Toby pointed out. "Does his telepathy go this far?"

"I'm not entirely sure. Somehow I doubt it. But think a minute. If you're a human-phobe 'Toss and you've got three of us little folk stranded on your ship, are you really going to let them just sit there and plan something bad? If he can't listen with his head, he can at do it with his computer."

We sat there in silence a moment, John paler than the other two of us. I'd already figured he was listening, but it was still unsettling. What do you say in a situation like that?

"I didn't mean it, Aldaris!" John raised his voice, looking around as if for a hidden microphone. "I was just joking!"

"He's not going to believe that." Toby said.

"_Shikkuro_!" a cranky Cheonha hissed.

After another awkward pause, I spoke again, quietly. "Okay, so what we have to do is just get him to let us go for now. It won't help him stay hidden if he kills us or keeps us here."

"Yeah." said Toby.

"Uh huh." said John.

Another pause, interrupted only by a yawn from Cheonha on her chair. Seriously, I know Aldaris wanted us back on the ship so we didn't blab on him or something, but stealing someone's stuff is not cool. It's bad enough he accidentally teleported all this random stuff on the ship. There's no way he could return it all to the proper places. Not to mention the fact that the guys ate whoever's shortbread and I was wearing somebody's clothes. Ew. I know that's what you're doing when you're trying on an outfit, but it's extra gross when you don't know how long they wore they clothes before you put them on.

"Let's look at all the stuff." I suggested. "It's something to do."

"We looked already." Toby yawned, indicating a small pile of things on the floor behind John. "There isn't too much here, and I don't think we can get any use out of five empty bottles, two broken chair legs, a pack of pudding, and a suitcase full of strange money."

"Strange money?" I asked. "From what country?"

"I don't know." John said. "It's got all this weird writing on it, so it's not from the west."

I got up and went over to the pile of stuff. It was basically what Toby said it was, though he hadn't mentioned a pack of candy sodas, a broken plate, and some candle stubs. The suitcase (had the guys broken into it or were the locks already broken?) was indeed full of cash, but it wasn't strange to me.

"Ah," I chirped. "_Hanguk toni-ehyo_. Korean money. And a dang lot of it, too."

"Cool." Toby yawned again. "But not useful to us. Hm, I'm starting to think Cheonha has the right idea. There's nothing we can do right now, anyway."

"Nothing we can do?" John retorted. "You're just going to give up and take a nap now that we're prisoners of an evil Protoss?"

"Yep. Sounds about right."

"Aldaris is hardly evil, John." I yawned too. Even though the only unused blanket in the place was the one still half-wet from my misadventure with the sevengills, a nap was beginning to sound really good. "He's just a dude."

"And you're going to go to sleep to let him kill us all?"

"He could kill us all when we're awake too. So whatever." I snuggled against the wall. The jacket I was wearing was sort of like a blanket, so all I needed to do was find a pillow of some kind. "I'm too water-logged to think."

"Great." John snapped. "So the plan is we'll just be asleep when he kills us?"

"Sounds good to me." Toby looked around. You could tell he was kind of irritated with himself for letting me have the jacket. "It hurts less that way."

"Screw you." John stood up. "I'm going to see if I can find something to contact earth with. Great job telling him to hide behind the moon, Bethany!"

"You're welcome, John." I shut my eyes and yawned again. "Have fun."

"Bethany, you will come to the bridge."

At once all of us were wide awake. That wasn't any of us speaking. It was Aldaris, and judging from the mechanical sound of it, he was communicating through the ship's speakers. Maybe he could hear us after all. Blinking at the others, I just shrugged.

"Well, here I go." I grinned. "I'm the first one dead."

"Don't even joke about that." John said.

"Relax. I think I can talk to him. And seriously, Cheonha, kwenchannayo. Don't look at me like that with those eyes. Go back to sleep."

To be honest, I'm not really sure how Cheonha was looking at me. Her eyes were so bleary and tired that I don't know if she was worried for my sake (did she remember my name?) or simply mad at me, wanting me to hurry up and go so that Aldaris wouldn't call again and keep her awake. At my words, she covered herself with her blanket again, but left a little space so she could watch me go.

"Good luck!" Toby shook my hand. "And remember, the fate of the entire earth depends on you."

"Pfft. No pressure, huh?" I grinned. At least one person back there had a dang sense of humor.

I wasn't really sure how to open the storage room doors. Were these like Star Trek, and they opened when you approached them? I approached the massive gold panels, but I wasn't really sure if they were automatic or Aldaris was controlling them somehow. It made more sense to assume the latter.

As I went through the doors (and they closed with an apprehensive thunk behind me), I suddenly realized that I didn't know where the bridge was from here. John and Toby apparently did, but Aldaris' message, even without saying so, was clearly for me to go alone. So I walked forward. The ship was much the same as when I'd gone through it before: magnificent, golden pathways decorated with all manner of random earth whatnots. Poor guy was going to have a time cleaning this up. I kicked away some broken bits of wood. From what it looked like, they'd once been wicker chairs, and not new ones either. The smell of dry rot made that pretty clear.

"Ah. Aldaris and the guys must have come this way." I said. "He must have smashed these up because they were in the way when he was walking earlier. Maybe I'm going the right way."

As I delayed with this bit of reflection, a side console lit up. Using a chair that was mostly intact (only the wicker seat was torn, and I could still stand on the edges), I was able to get almost eye-level with a screen embedded into the wall. It was showed a diagram, though it took a few seconds for me to realize it was the ship. Aldaris was showing me the way to the bridge. I stared at it for several more seconds to make sure I knew where I was going. Spacial relation isn't exactly my forte, as my overly nervous driving instructors could tell you.

I hoped I didn't take too long on the way there. My legs are shorter than a 'Toss', and I did spend a lot of time staring at both the ship and the random stuff on it. Also, I wasn't sure I'd memorized the pathway right. However, at some point I did manage to get nearer to Aldaris. I could sense his brooding, somehow. Maybe he was giving off a telepathic field so that I could find him, or maybe he was just annoyed in general and that made his presence obvious. Either way, I recognized the hallway from before, and could be certain that this was the right way. Another huge pair of doors opened, and I was in the bridge again.

"Annoyed" was the wrong word to describe Aldaris. He wasn't annoyed. He was moody. Grim. Alone. And the whole room reeked of his solitude. I walked in timidly, and he didn't seem to notice me at first. He was just sitting at the main console (I assume it was the main console, anyway) and puttering around with it. The computer's systems beeped and hummed along in a way that sounded very regular, unhampered by whatever caused Aldaris to come to Earth.

I quietly approached, though he didn't seem as scary as at first. Aldaris was a lot calmer, but the way he stared at the screen was solemn. Earth was still there, and the UED still wasn't. I walked up to get a closer look at what he was doing...not that looking at Protoss words would do me any good. What in the world was he doing, anyway?

"I am recording the data produced by my vessel during the power surges." Aldaris answered, still typing away at the computer and puttering with the weird 'Toss controls. It was almost like watching someone conduct an orchestra. "It is best to do this without delay, while the information is still new."

"Oh. Okay." I wondered if whatever he was doing was difficult.

"No, I do not require your help."

Well, that answered that. I felt like a doofus just standing there while he worked, so I went to go sit on the raised seating where Cheonha had been when we first got stuck here. Weird, it couldn't have been that long ago, but it felt like forever. I just sat there politely, hands in my lap. Waiting patiently, well, isn't exactly my strong suit. I did manage to keep myself from wiggling my feet, though. It's a bad habit, though not too bad because apparently people who fidget burn calories. Anyway, at the time I just stared out of the window and started thinking about space. I figure it wouldn't be too embarrassing if Aldaris happened to be listening and figured out that Saturn is my favorite planet.

Of course, that didn't turn out to be the problem. If I were at home, it wouldn't have been close to my bedtime (and who can really make an adult go to sleep when there's Youtube to watch?), but swimming with sharks, nearly drowning, and getting a case of oxygen poisoning can really get to you. I almost dozed off, but it wasn't that long before Aldaris stopped messing with his computer. I pinched my hand to make sure I stayed alert.

"There." was all he said before turning to me, his eyes all aglow and prepped to scare the crap out of unsuspecting human creatures. "I suppose now I should deal with you. Perhaps you feel I should simply allow you to go."

Pleasant guy, ain't he?

"That would be ideal." I nodded.

"Very well then. What assurances can you make that your release would not result in human forces taking advantage of a stranded Protoss target with desirable technology?"

"None, and every!" I replied. "I don't control anybody, much less John and Cheonha back there. I have zero political influence, and I shelve books for a living. They could blab as much as they wanted, and I couldn't do a thing about it. However, I think you're under some misconceptions about what we're capable of. We don't have fleets or attack ships. Just a bunch of satellites and a couple of shuttles now and then. Nothing to speak of."

"You are saying that the Earth itself has no defense?"

"Well, we might scramble something up in a pinch, but nothing you might be used to where you're from."

Aldaris lifted an eyebrow. "And you tell me all this willingly?"

"Well, I'm no expert or anything like that, but we have plenty of bombs, I guess." I scratched my head. "We did have a space station, but I think it got scrapped or something at one point. Not really sure why. Probably a funding cut. It's always funding cuts. My dad would've been in space already if it hadn't been for Jimmy Carter."

From the look on his face, it was clear that Aldaris didn't care about Dad or Jimmy Carter. "And this is not a scheme on your part to make me underestimate your forces?"

"Uh, well, correct me if I'm wrong," I was saying 'well' a lot, and made a mental note to stop saying it as much. "But can't Protoss tell if someone is lying?"

"At most times, yes." Aldaris replied. "I personally know of many techniques to produce honesty in creatures who might be inclined to deceive."

"None of 'em very nice, I bet."

"Precisely."

Nothing beats getting threatened by a giant reptile monster. I couldn't help smiling. This was just too funny. "Well," - dang it, I said it again - "I'll just have to be honest. You'd probably notice if I were lying anyway. My brother says I'm not very good at it."

I left myself wide open for a sarcastic remark there, but Aldaris merely hmmed and folded his arms. He was refraining from comment very deliberately. It was nice of him, actually. I tend to say dorky things a lot, so it's good to know not everybody in the universe is going to make fun of the way I talk.

"Then, knowing what you know of Earth," Sarcasm practically oozed out of his pores. "What do you suggest as my next course of action?"

I managed to catch myself before saying "well" this time. "You should simply send us home. It's really the best way. No one will wonder why we're missing, and if anyone finds out about you, they'll cut you some slack because you didn't shove us out the airlock when you had the chance."

"Right. So that you may make my whereabouts clear from the moment you reach Earth. 'Hide behind the moon' indeed."

"Oh!" I realized. "I didn't think of it that way."

"I know." he said. "I would not have done so otherwise."

"Cool. Anyway, you shouldn't worry too much about us saying something. For one, Starcraft itself is on your side. Sure, we could say that we were kidnapped by a Protoss, but we'd have no evidence, and as soon as they figured out we were referring to stuff in a computer game we'd get declared insane or maybe put through a medical program. I mean sure, NASA might have some weird readings from your ship by now, but there's no sense in concluding that a fictitious character from a popular game is the cause of it. And two, if you kill me, an unarmed girl who hasn't done anything to you, you're a jerk. But if you kill Cheonha, you're the scum of the universe."

"Oh really? Please explain. How I love to hear the intricacies of human moral principles."

"Dude, that much sarcasm is really uncalled for. Seriously, Cheonha has it bad." I hoped my expression was convincing. "She's not just a normal person. She's lived all her life in North Korea, where she's had nothing but political oppression. Communism is based on the idea of distributing to each according to their need, and in communist countries, it's generally the worst forms of people that figured out that this means the people that do the distributing get all the power. Therefore, the people that are the most politically loyal get all the food, and those that aren't get thrown into camps or allowed to starve to death. They're so oppressed that the army literally has to keep everyone from fleeing the country and figuring out that everybody else is better off than them. I mean crap, you showing up helped Cheonha escape, and if you just kill her now that she has the chance to be free, that's some serious scumbaggery right there."

"I see." Aldaris said. "And is there any reliable way disguising my vessel as I deposit her?"

"If there is a way, I sure don't know about it. Hey wait, you've got a cloaking device or something on the ship, right? Can't you just use that again?"

"Yes, because Protoss ships run on magic energy resources that never deplete." Aldaris said dryly. "Somehow I very much doubt that a suitable fuel exists on this planet, and it is therefore prudent to use it as efficiently as possible."

"In that case...uh...hm. I'd say you could just leave us all in South Korea and be done with it, except I don't know how we'd get home without having passports."

"South Korea?"

"Yeah, it's the other half of the peninsula. It's like an anti-communist parable: the communist North is probably the worst country on the earth, and the capitalist South is like the fourth most prosperous in the world, or something like that. Marx'd roll in his grave to see such clear evidence that his theory is bullcrap."

"I do not know the philosophies of humans nor care to learn them." Aldaris muttered and started to key something in on his computer. "Just show me where to bring her and you will go."

As Aldaris pushed a button on his console, a purple Protoss symbol appeared on the screen. It must have been the cloaking device or something, because the moon disappeared from the viewscreen and we got a better look at Earth. I was going to head over to the window to look, because windows are always better than viewscreens to look at space. Aldaris, however, swept his hand toward the monitor, and I followed his gesture over.

"Hm, that's the wrong side." I pointed to the screen. "Europe's there at the top, and below it is Africa. We've got to go further east, past most of Asia."

It of course was the ship moving, but it almost felt like the Earth itself was turning just for our convenience. Pretty soon, though, the right geography showed up on screen.

"Okay, you can stop it there." I said. "See that line of islands? That's Japan. Korea is on the inside of the islands, right there sticking out from the mainland. Um, can we get a closer zoom in? I'd like to send Cheonha to Seoul, but it's pretty close to the border and I don't want to risk sending her back to the North."

Aldaris pushed a few keys while I was talking, and pretty soon he had a closer view of the city. I could see some stuff, but not really tell what it was, other than clearly being buildings and that sort of thing. Seeing any distinctive detail was impossible, but since half of South Korea's population lives in Seoul, it's a pretty big place.

"That is as close as I can get without going closer to your world." Aldaris said with contempt, as if he was being corrupted by Earth by simply getting within a hundred thousand miles of it. "Is this the correct location?"

I squinted at the screen. "I think so. I just hope it's near a...near a...actually, I don't know where you're supposed to bring runaway North Koreans."

"That, I presume, you may determine for yourself when you arrive." Aldaris tapped a few more keys. "Prepare yourself."

"Prepare...?" I stared down at my odd clothes. "Um, how am I supposed to do that? I don't even have a hairbrush-"

Y'know, Aldaris didn't have to just teleport us. He could have given us a countdown, or let us sort through the human things to find more useful stuff, or confirmed where we would land. Nope! In the middle of my sentence, the blue electricity took hold again, and before I knew it, my surroundings were gone.

\\\\\\\

Author's Notes:

- I know reviewer participation is technically against the rules, but I just wanted to ask. If you could ask a Protoss a question, what would it be? You know, besides the obvious "how do you _eat_?"


	5. Melodrama

I looked around. I was in some sort of alleyway, a fairly typical one in the sense of tall buildings and fire escapes. The oddest part of the place was not the scenery, but the smell. It wasn't a bad smell, but a weird one with unusual spices and vegetables. I sniffed it again, remembering that even if the food smelled different, I hadn't had anything to eat since lunch that day, maybe four hours ago. I could stand some Korean food.

Of course, I looked down at my loose clothes and realized that I was the weirdest thing about the place. Koreans are all about dressing right in public - no going on in pajama pants - so too-large men's clothes was definitely out.

Turning around, I saw the electric light-cloud that signified the Protoss recall. As expected, it was Cheonha, teleported this time without the sofa chair and blanket. Poor Cheonha clutched her skinny arms, standing there shuddering as if it were colder than it was. Her clothes were old North Korean rags, and that was definitely not good Seoul streetwear either. Fortunately for both of us, Cheonha had the suitcase of _won_ with her.

Cheonha didn't like the look I was apparently giving her (pity, I guess) and said something that was probably nasty. I'm not really sure what, because I haven't learned korean swears yet. Wasn't planning on it, to be honest.

Cheonha got over it pretty fast. "_Chigum odee-eh?_"

"_Morugessawyo._" I answered, peeping out from the alleyway. "Wait a minute...yeah! I know this place!"

I came out of the alleyway, to find myself in a place that didn't look too dissimilar. But this street I'd seen before. It was a quieter road (for Seoul) that ran between two busier streets. To the left, I knew it went over to the youth hostel I'd stayed at five years ago. To the right, if you went down far enough, you could run across a Dunkin Donuts and a Paris Baguette. Even further that way, if I remembered right, was the Bang Bang clothing store, a trendy place with posters and catalogs full of bad english. I love bad english.

Turning around, I saw the little convenience shop that confirmed everything. It was the same little place, with a register on a tiny counter, huge bags of Korean instant coffee I could see through the front window, and there right in front of the door a metal, heated display that showed some white buns full of pork or something. I'd meant to try them my first trip to Korea, but I never got the chance.

"I know where this is!" I exclaimed. "_Namdaemun shijang-iehyo! Seoul-iehyo_!"

Cheonha choked. "...Seoul?"

Cheonha had already joined me on the street and she could see the loaded convenience store for herself. She could see the pork buns in their stand, peacefully displaying themselves in public, without the shopkeeper worrying about starving children stealing them. Cheonha wandered a few steps, where she could see the end of the quiet road, where five cars drove by. That kind of traffic in ten seconds was about as much as Pyongyang saw in a whole day, and I didn't know if Cheonha had even been to North Korea's capital.

The North Korean could see, and smell, for herself. Only then did I remember the real trouble: Cheonha had been lied to all her life. In the North, they were told that everyone else in the world was more poor than North Korea (just imagine a world where that's true...), and now...well, no matter how much she'd believed that lie before, there was nothing to believe in now. She shuddered only once, refusing to look at me - or at anything. Cheonha lowered herself slowly to the ground, leaning against the brick wall of a multiplex. She tried to sob, but she was already so tired all she could do was let her head drop unto her knees. Then she was still.

I stood there a minute, waiting for Cheonha to do something. When she didn't, I went to the brick wall and slowly settled myself next to her.

"Cheonha-_shee_..." that was as far as I go before remembering precisely how limited my korean was. I sighed and just kept going in english, for some reason. "Colleen...I sort of know what you've been into up in North Korea. Sort of. You've got a lot of false images about how the world is. Just...just don't hold onto them too tight. The people of the world are nothing like what you were told about them. This place, Seoul, is like what the North should have been, except not separate from the rest of Korea. This is what happens when people accept competition, capitalism, and just freedom in general. Oh, what am I saying? We're going to get you some clothes, some dinner, and then we're going to go to the cops, and then everything is going to be fine. Okay?"

"Okay?" Cheonha lifted her head to look up at me. "..._chincha_ 'okay'?"

Uh...did she understand me or something? Oh well. There was only one way to answer. I nodded.

"_Ne_."

There really isn't much purpose in me describing what happened next. We just went to the Bang Bang store, which thankfully was more or less where I remembered it. It was really awkward to go around in our unfashionable threads, and Cheonha had somehow hurt her ankle, but it wasn't that far of a walk. People stared at her, but, awful as this may sound, Cheonha has a really good "cornered badger" glare that can make people look away in about two seconds. It's not all that bad an ability.

As much as I love everything about the Bang Bang shop, with colorful clothes, shiny shoes, and bad english galore, neither me nor Cheonha had all that good of a time. The store clerks were nice enough, but they sort of freaked her out somehow, and she didn't like it when they asked her questions. I'm pretty sure they were just asking things about what Cheonha was looking for, but she didn't like it. I took to distracting them whenever they got too close, and since none of them really knew english, they backed off a little.

Besides trying to find something for Cheonha, I had to find something for myself. Quite frankly, if you're not an Asian, there's few activities worse than pants-shopping that can make you feel ever so fat. Where I'm from, I'm pretty normal. Thus, I'm not an adorable Korean twig. Thankfully I found a couple of shirts that were large enough for me, but ended up stuck wearing the man's jeans. Yuck. Cheonha found shopping about as fun as walking barefoot on cobble, so as soon as I found some jeans that fit her, I grabbed a couple more of the same size and let that be it.

Cheonha didn't try on a lot of shirts, but I bought her some anyway, along with two pairs of shoes and a bag to hold her spare stuff. I took the tags off the stuff she was wearing so that I could pay for it. I'd already taken some of the _won_ out of the suitcase while I was in the dressing room, because it'd probably look really creepy of me to pull some out of a suitcase full of cash.

It was really odd when Cheonha turned down my offer of food. We passed by another alleyway, except this one was full of vendors cooking various foods on the street. Both sides and a "lane" in the middle of the alley were all crammed chok full of little stands of various things, like kimchi stands and old women cooking fresh potato pancakes. Cheonha's eyes practically exploded as she passed by the fruit stands, where not only where there tons of fruit out, but also arranged in shapes like turkeys and roses.

Cheonha followed me as if I knew where I was going, but I didn't. I was looking for a police station or government building, because I don't really know where you're supposed to take smuggled North Koreans. Thankfully our random wandering brought us out to a place that looked like a police station. It was a stern, grey building, with a thing that looked like a police badge on the front wall.

"Well, let's go in." I tell Cheonha. "I sure hope someone in there knows english."

"_Aniyo._"

Cheonha walked up beside me and put her hand on her shoulder. And then she said something. My eyes widened with the blank stare of ignorance. She said it again, slowly this time. I blinked. Cheonha facepalmed. She walked out in front of me, getting between me and the police door. She said a few words, and did a lot of gesturing with her hands. She pointed to herself and said "_na-nun_" and then pointed to the police station - "_kayo_". She then pointed to me, and crossed her arms.

"Um..._na-nun..._" I strained my memory for the right words. "_an kayo_?"

"_Ne_!" Cheonha almost laughed with relief. She took my hands and bowed her head slightly. "_Kamsa-hamnidah. Anyongikahsehyo._"

"_Chon man-ehyo._" I answered. "_Anyongikehseyho._"

She let go of my hand and went into the police station. Well, I was bumfuzzled. She didn't want me to go with her when she turned herself in. She trusted me enough to follow me when I wandered around Seoul, so I guess I can trust her to handle getting help from the South Korean government. I just wish I could have explained to her what was going on.

I suddenly grimaced, making a face so awkward that a Korean couple passing by began walking a little faster. Cheonha knew about Protoss! Korea's such a Starcraft-obsessed country, they'll think she's nuts if she starts talking about Aldaris. I turned back toward the police station and winced, wondering if I should go in. To Cheonha, all of Seoul is crazy simply for existing. She doesn't have the background to realize aliens are weirder than South Korea.

But I didn't go in. Cheonha must have had a reason for telling me to stay out here. Maybe she had some story in her head she'd already made up about how she got here, and if I walked in, I'd ruin it somehow. I have no clue what she could tell them that would make them accept that she'd escaped from North Korea and made it this far south without being seen even by South Korean border patrols. I was just going to have to trust her.

_Besides, I want some ttoekbokki anyway. _

With a sigh, I turn away from the door and start walking. Seoul's a pretty crowded place, with lots of tall buildings and crowded streets everywhere, and I'm not an urban person. As much as I wanted to go to that one familiar part of Namdaemun, I was now so dang turned around from the wandering that I had no clue where I was. Nerd girl ain't that urban. It didn't matter too much. If Aldaris wanted to find me again, he probably could just scan or something.

There wasn't much to do at that point but make my stomach shut up. The time change between Korea and America was so weird. Back home, it was early afternoon. Here, early morning was wasting away, and I really wanted a nap. But there was a street vendor nearby, and in one of the metal bins on his heated cart there was a familiar food: little cylinders of rice cake covered in a brilliant red hot sauce - ttoekbokki. As I dug into my pocket for some _won_, I walked up to the stand and hoped that the brown stuff in the next bin over was some kind of beef.

For the next hour, not too much happened. I got some food and ate it on one of the little plastic seats around the vendor. And then nothing. Aldaris didn't call me. I started to wonder if maybe Al only could call me from this distance using the little breathing ring I used with the sevengills, but eventually figured that if Al could call Toby in New York without one, then he could call me now. What was going on in that ship?

It got to the point where I had to assume that Aldaris wasn't going to come and get me. The vendor was starting to look at me weird, so I got up and walked around as I thought about things. Even though it felt like forever, I'd really only been away from Fayetteville for maybe three or four hours. Since it takes about eighteen hours - not counting layovers - to fly from here to home, I was going to have a lot of explaining to do when I got to the American embassy. Yeah, it was the only place I could think of to go. As much as I rant on about Korea, I don't actually have any friends here. Maybe I should get one. It's not like they monitor email here like they do in China. Seriously, don't bring your personal technology to China unless you don't mind the Chinese government copying your hard drive.

So walking. Yeah. Nothing remarkable happened, so I'll just skip to half an hour later, when I'm completely lost and pondering on how many Korean shirts and toys for my nephews I can get with the money in the suitcase. I'd all but given up on Aldaris picking me up again when suddenly the now familiar sound of electric warping appeared around me. I'd been hiding in a corner while I peeked at the _won_, so I guess Aldaris didn't feel the need to warn me I was being recalled.

So it takes me completely by surprise when I look up and once again I'm on Aldaris' ship. I really hope that all this teleporting doesn't mess up my brainwaves or something. Anyway, I notice right off that the feel of the room was completely different. It got a lot darker. Aldaris refused to look at me, and stared straight at the screen before him.

"Uh...where are the guys?"

"Gone." The way he said it, I was worried for a minute. Thankfully, he clarified. "I have sent them back to Earth."

Aldaris sounded...melodramatic? The way he oppressively and firmly stared at that screen of my planet...well, it was clear he was trying his hardest to be objective. He wanted me off the ship, and he wanted me off now. But he didn't tell me to point out where on Earth I lived.

"Bethany..." he said slowly. "Is it true that at the end of Starcraft, Kerrigan has won?"

Aw crap. He'd been talking to John. Knowing how John acted out in front of me, there was no telling what he'd said to Aldaris. Oh no. I wish he'd waited until I was on the ship before talking to him.

"Just answer my question."

"At the end of Starcraft," I answer slowly. "Kerrigan defeats a combined force of UED, Dominion, and Protoss. She lets Mengsk go because it amuses her, she lets the 'Toss go because...I don't actually know why, and she kills all the UED guys. From what I am able to guess from the Zerg missions, Kerrigan was, to a degree, losing her desire to pursue universal conquest. Actually, she might have let the UED live too, only the fleets attacked her. I think she killed them so that the UED back on Earth wouldn't understand the true nature of the K Sector, and if they sent another force in, they wouldn't ally up with you guys and the Dominion."

I paused a minute. I hadn't really answered his question. "Um, the Protoss are sort of okay, though. Kerrigan doesn't try to kill you guys off. At that point, she'd already got revenge on all the Protoss that had ever pissed her off. The game implies she just got sick of killing people and decided to give everyone a 'respite'. I think it must have been because she pissed off Raynor."

"Raynor?" Aldaris acted surprised. "James Raynor died upon Aiur, allowing many of the Protoss to escape. Or did he manage an escape of his own?"

"Oh yeah, you wouldn't know." I realized. "Um, the game implies that Kerrigan saved him. And Fenix too, because he was hanging out with Raynor."

"Raynor is as blunt as a brick," Aldaris said thoughtfully. "And is not thus not easily deceived, or so I may guess from what little I know of him. He is of little use to her if he cannot be tricked into fulfilling whatever twisted plans she had in mind."

"Zeratul didn't tell you they used to work in the Dominion together? Didn't it come up at some point when you talked to him?"

"Neither of us had concerns at that time more pressing than our survival on Shakuras." Aldaris paused a minute, and a disgusted expression grew on his face. "Raynor and Kerrigan were..._lovers_?"

I couldn't blame Aldaris for being grossed out by that one. He'd never known Kerrigan as a human, and no amount of bad fanfiction would ever convince me that those mental images were anything but scarring.

I shook my head. "No, nothing like that. I don't know if this means anything, but Kerrigan's original voice actress in Starcraft said that they were just good friends. If she's wrong, then it simply never got to that point before Kerri got infested. Raynor just always felt like he was responsible for what happened to her."

"Oh." Even though he didn't say anything I could hear, I could tell that he had some choice expletives in mind dedicated to Raynor. This only distracted him momentarily, and soon enough his grim gaze was back on me. "John...he said that...do I really die?"

"Um..."

I don't have to say any more. Aldaris turns away bitterly, only to be confronted by the planet on the viewscreen. Even looking at the human planet offended him. With a quick motion and a clenched fist, Aldaris snapped off the screen.

"Well, the good news is that when you get back, you can always prevent your death." I say optimistically. "And besides, here _you_ are, but farther than that, exactly how accurate is Starcraft? We have no way of knowing what details are real and which are not. Well, besides what you can tell us. If you're up to seeing the game, at any point."

"I suppose I should." Aldaris muttered. "I do not want to."

"Eh, don't let John manipulate you." I went over and sat on the chairs in the back. "He's just cranky because he thinks you're going to blow up Earth or something. I don't really get his reaction."

"Hmph." Aldaris finally turned back to me, more calm but still suspicious. "Bethany, what exactly is this game about? John told me little, and I would not ask him more."

"Well, I'd rather you see most of the content for yourself, because I'm not all that confident in my ability to describe what happened adequately. You've got to make your own judgements on it." I think a second. "The game itself, if you put it really simply, is just about the Zerg, 'Toss, and humans duking it out for the K Sector. It begins with the Protoss destroying Chau Sara, and ends - well, the first Starcraft game ends with Tassadar's sacrifice. From what you've told me about Raynor, I'm guessing you saw that happen already."

"Tassadar destroying the Overmind?" Aldaris nodded. "Yes, I saw the battle footage."

"Okay, so Brood War, the expansion set of Starcraft, picks up right after that when the Protoss are getting away from Aiur. It ends with...well, with Kerrigan pwning everybody, but then deciding to wait. It's never specified what's she's waiting for. Presumably something human remains in her, and she's not willing to kill anyone else, at least until she sorts herself out. The Zerg side versus the human. When you see the game itself, you can figure that part for yourself."

Aldaris said nothing, patiently waiting for me to continue. He raised an eyebrow at my confusion. Huh, I guess John didn't tell Aldaris how he died. I was expecting him to react to me mentioning Kerrigan. Instead Aldaris just looked at me funny. Great, now at some point I have to tell him. Yay.

"So yeah," I say before the pause gets too awkward. "I don't know if you care, but the game's pretty popular. Especially in South Korea. Um, it was made by Blizzard Entertainment, also known for making Diablo and Warcraft. Of the three games, I'm really happy it was someone from Starcraft. A Diablo character would have been horrible. There's all kinds of monsters and crap in those games."

Aldaris is not amused, and his stare suggests I get back on topic.

"They made Starcraft on a break from Warcraft, back in 1995. Brood War came out in 1998-"

"Stop!" Aldaris froze. "Say that again."

"Brood War came out in 1998...?"

"Last I heard, it was 2501 by human reckoning." Aldaris practically gasped. "This game you speak of was produced _five hundred years_ in the past?"

"Uh, no, it was eighteen years in the past. It's 2013 now."

"The past..." Aldaris gradually straightened in his chair, almost as if he were floating. "I have become trapped in the _past_?"

"That I'm not so sure about. If this is really the past of the Starcraft era, then you have to wonder why nobody then remembers anything about the game. We know plenty about five hundred years back from now, and since we have computer databases, figuring out about the game would be as simple as entering the word 'Protoss' in a search engine."

"It remains unlikely that your people would have stored information on the vessels they sent to the K Sector."

"Well, yeah, but you figure the UED would have at least figured it out. I guess technically it's possible that the entire game was forgotten about, but somehow I doubt nowadays would have turned into those. Starcraft is really distopian - that means it's more gloomy than realistic - and I don't think everyone's going to turn into a bunch of rednecks."

Aldaris didn't respond. He turned sideways to look at his computer, and half-heartedly punched a few buttons. Evidently whatever data came up on the screen caught his attention, because as soon as he saw those green Protoss figures, he turned all the way a round and started to type some more. The computer showed more data, scrolling downwards as more filled the screen. At the bottom, some Protoss letters flashed, and Aldaris stopped typing. He just stared at the screen, thinking intently, and after a moment began to rub his forehead. Evidently he wasn't happy about what he saw.

"Oh hey, you probably should see the game." I mention. "I mean, do you want to?"

"I suppose."

"Okay, cool." I chattered away merrily. "I've got vanilla and Brood War, and I can get footage of Starcraft 2 from the internet. Um, I doubt your computer can read cds, and even if it could, your computer is probably way too fast. Playing games on too fast computers is buggy. Hm...if we could hook up my laptop to your viewscreen...hm. Oh wait, yeah! Do you have a flat, blank wall somewhere on this ship? Worst case scenario we can hang up a sheet or something. My dad can get a projector from his work, and I'm pretty sure a USB cable can hook that up. Now all I'll need to do is figure out how I can get a power source for my laptop, and we'll be good to go!"

Aldaris wasn't paying me any attention. He lowered his hand as if to press another button on his computer, but in a moment of irritation, he just buried his face in his hands. Apparently the computer wasn't telling him anything he wanted to know. I bit my lip. Poor guy.

"Hey um, Aldaris..." I tried not to be too nervous as I spoke. "I'm sorry I'm being so mean."

That got his attention. The confused alien turned around, finding me all sheepish and whatnot.

"I haven't been thinking about this from your perspective." I explain. "I'm all happy because I got to go into space, meet an alien, swim with the sevengills, and go to Korea again. For you it's been nothing but getting zapped to the planet of the weirdo midgets and messing with an unhelpful computer. You haven't been having nearly as much fun as I have, and I'm not being sensitive to your feelings."

Aldaris blinked. As he spoke again, his voice was heavy, as if exhausted from the day's events. "...Fun. You could have died any number of ways in these short hours, and you say you have had 'fun'. The chances of my malfunctioning recall unit turning your mind into a slew of organic matter were remarkably high."

"What really?" I couldn't help it. I had to laugh. "Wow, that's pretty dang funny. Well, it's no big deal. I'm not going to die. Trust me, I've had this conversation with God before."

Aldaris didn't bother responding. He simply brought up the picture of Earth back up on the computer, focusing in on the Western hemisphere. I guess he already knew that's where America is, because John would have had to tell Aldaris where he lived to get off of the ship. The Protoss didn't have to say anything for me to know it was my turn. He simply watched me and waited.

"I'm on the eastern side." I pointed. "See right where the land bends right there...wow, looks so different from up here. I live a couple of hours from the coast driving..." Aldaris zoomed in the screen at this point. "Okay, thanks. Hey, I recognise that. That's Fayetteville, I think right over by the coliseum. So if -"

_**Snap! **_

Okay, I was really starting to get sick of all the teleporting. To make it worse, even though it turned out that I did know where it was, I didn't have a car with me, and walking would take at least two hours, by my reckoning. And since I'd never walked that far before, I was probably wrong; it was going to be longer. Well, the road near me was the only way I could guess to go.

I suddenly dug in my pocket, and as my fingers met with paper, I sighed, remembering that these were my pants. Even if I did have a dollar, it would have been in the pants I was wearing this morning, not the ones I was wearing now. All the money there was just _won_. Getting a ride on the bus wasn't going to happen.

"Huh?"

I looked down at my feet. The suitcase full of _won _was there. Weird. I guess Aldaris wanted me to have it, though I can't guess what I'm going to do with a suitcase full of foreign money I didn't earn.

_He should have kept this. There's no telling when he might need some money. _I grin, picking up the suitcase. _Hey, I'm an accounting major. Maybe I'll just hold onto this for him. It beats trying to explain this cash to the feds._

\\\\\\

Author's Notes:

- Alright, now we got introductions out of the way. The story should be a little more journal from here. And yeah, that street in Korea is real. And now I really want some ttoekbokki.


	6. Downtime Conspiracy

I really like my house. It's just about the awesomest place to live ever, if you're a writer type. Or a recluse in general. Eh, or maybe a semi-recluse. The whole thing is surrounded by trees and bushes, and even though it's pretty close to some stores and the bank, nobody who doesn't know it's there would ever see it. You can just barely see the little dirt road stuck there in a small gap between two of the trees. My neighbors on both sides have fences, and there's some woods in the back. That leaves me with a nice little enclave, all grassy with some embedded stone steps leading to the front door.

The house isn't very big, but that's alright, since I live alone. Good thing, too, or I'd have to explain to a roomie/spouse/parent where I've been the past few hours. Writing all of this may have taken a few chapters, but it really didn't last that long as an overall adventure. I spent more time walking back to my house than I did running about with Aldaris and Cheonha. I had to walk all that way with a suitcase full of foreign money, so you can imagine how relieved I felt when I finally made it to my little yellow tower with the sloping roof.

Yeah, the house is this odd shade of faded yellow, almost a brown. It's cool, because I wouldn't like it if it were normal. I call it a tower because there's literally three rooms to it, and two floors. The bottom is an open area, both kitchen and living room, and it feels even more open since the back door has huge plate glass windows with sliding doors leading out to the back patio (a simple plank platform). Up the stairs is my bedroom and the one bathroom in the house, which is the only thing I don't like about it, because visitors have to go past my room to get there. Maybe I'll put up some partitions or something.

For now, though, the place is my writer's paradise, and I escape from the steadily falling night. I barely have the energy to shut the door behind me before flopping down on the floor. I should really get a couch at some point. All that's in there, other than the major kitchen appliances on the far wall, is a table and chair set that my parents gave me. Oh, and some pillows I snuck from Mom and Dad's so that my nephews have somewhere to sit when they come over and play video games. I'm pretty sure they don't mind.

I really shouldn't have been surprised when I woke up on the floor some hours later. My body is set to get up around six thirty, so that's the time I was greeted with when I lifted my head off the scratchy carpet to look at the wall.

"Nuggh..." I mutter, picking myself up. "'S food time."

* * *

I really need to keep more food in my fridge. Guacamole on toast is no way to greet the day. Thankfully it was a Saturday, and I didn't need the calories it took to get through school. Also luckily, I'd forgotten to turn off the coffeepot yesterday, and it was hot and waiting. The third lucky was that I had that Saturday off, and there was nothing for me to do. I gathered up what constituted breakfast, as well as the suitcase, and plopped down at the table.

"I should read my Bible." No one's there to hear me talk, so I always talk out loud at home. "Or I could mess with this stuff and figure out what I'm doing with it."

The suitcase was a really big temptation on my time, and the Bible was all the way upstairs by my bed. Going upstairs required more movement than cranky me wanted to do so early in the morning. See, this is why morning devotions haven't really worked out for me. That, and there's no space for my coffeemaker in my bedroom.

"So, monies." I poked around at the colorful cash. "Huh. Well, I decided I was going to keep this as Aldaris' money, so let's see how much there is."

I still have the receipts for all the stuff I bought over in Korea (well, except for the street vendor's food, but I remembered how much that cost), and so I was able to total up the _won_ to about what it should have been before some was spent. Oh wait, I also gave some to Cheonha. Oh well. Counting the receipts, I get up to an even 12,000,000 _won_. Don't get too excited. That's only a little less than 11,000 US dollars.

"Nothing to sneeze at." my laptop, all decked out with shiny blue flower stickers, was waiting patiently for me on the table, so I went ahead and turned it on. I had an Excel spreadsheet to make.

I love taking accounting in school. Some of this stuff they could have been teaching us in high school, but because public schools seem to think programs in "global awareness" will help students in the real world get a dang job more than actual practical skills. They could have at least bothered to teach kids how to do their taxes before shoving a diploma in their hands. I can live without knowing French culture. Rattling off European trivia isn't going to put cash in my bank account.

But enough political musings. I have accounting to do!

"Okay..." I titled the spreadsheet "Charlie's money". I will never tell Aldaris this, but I have a character in an original fiction that's based off how he might act if he were a human. And that guy's name is Charlie. True, the character ended up not being that much like Aldaris, but I'd rather put a normal looking name on the spreadsheet just in case my computer ends up in the wrong hands. You never know these things.

I titled the first column "Date" then expanded the second column and put "Journal". The third and fourth columns became "Debit" and "Credit", and I was ready to go.

"Huh, maybe I should have like a manual book for when I can't get to my computer. Bah, whatever." I put yesterday's date in the first column, under the heading. "Okay, so I'll debit cash for twelve million _won_, and since my credit has to equal my debits, I'll credit...um...hm. How exactly do you credit 'random money that showed up on an alien spaceship'? I'll just say...capital. Yeah. Capital."

I typed in all the proper amounts in the columns, then below both entries, in the journal column, wrote, "original funds". Then since I spent some of the money, I skipped another space and entered in yesterday's date again, debiting all my expenses and crediting cash. See, when I created the "cash" account on the debit side, it means that that much cash exists. When I put cash on the credit side, it means I'm spending the cash and I have to minus it from cash when I make my T-accounts later. See, if public schools actually gave a crap, you'd know what I was talking about.

"Okay!" I clapped my hands. "There's probably a simpler way to do this, but whatever! Okay. Now I need to gather up all my Starcraft stuff! I need to be ready for when Aldaris comes to find out about Starcraft."

I ran over to my way-crammed bookcase, full of books on communist history and Korean dictionaries. Seriously, how the heck did I end up with three Korean dictionaries? I don't need that many. But anyway, on the top shelf was all my computer stuff, right next to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I pulled out a couple of cds, and there were my Starcraft discs.

"Huh, I don't have the manuals. Do I need those? Probably he'll want to see them. Maybe there's something I forgot in them that would be interesting to him. There's some at work, so I'll probably just check them out."

I placed the discs on the kitchen table, then started thinking of what else I would need. There was obviously my laptop, and later that day I'd have to call Dad and see if I could borrow a projector. But sitting there didn't seem fun.

"Oh yeah, recording Starcraft 2 let's plays!" I brightened. "I'll have to record them, and then edit them down so that only the plot parts show - Aldaris probably doesn't want to watch someone just playing. Ooh, and I can make a survival bag!"

Since the coffee was kicking in, I shot up the stairs and dug into my closet. Behind my storage bins, clothes, and old coffee advertisements I've been meaning to use as posters, was my leather bag. I bought it a while back, but never got much use out of it. That wasn't going to be the case anymore. I needed a survival bag! If I kept teleporting randomly like yesterday, then it was pretty clear I was going to have to be ready for just about anything.

There wasn't much in the bag already, besides some AA batteries and packets of instant coffee (coffee is important). I went ahead and packed a spare change of clothes and an unopened pack of pretzels I left on my bed. In went some spare makeup, extra pencils and a notebook, my throwing knives, one of my forty bajillion bottles of lotion, an extra zip drive, and a book on the KGB. Y'know, in case I get bored. And since I lost nothing by so doing, I threw in one of my Korean dictionaries. Maybe Charlie will let me see Cheonha again. I sure hope she's okay.

I made a mental note to go to the store a little later to get more food and maybe some matches for my survival bag. I wasn't going to work, so I couldn't get the Starcraft manual. Dad was either sleeping in or selling houses, so calling about the projector was out. So that meant basically all I could do at this point was get to recording somebody's Starcraft 2.

Snatching the pretzels from my survival bag (I'll get more later), I rush down the stairs to set up a workstation at the table. My laptop was already there, so I tossed the pretzels down, went and grabbed some more coffee, and surveyed the fridge for something to dip the pretzels in.

"Hm..." I poked around the fridge, shoving aside a bowl of pasta. "There's ranch or...salsa. Which goes better on pretzels?"

After deciding on both and returning to the table with my mixture, I settled down at my computer. Without my even noticing, two hours had gone by. I spent the rest of the afternoon getting snacks, calling Dad, getting some writing done, recording some more SCII, and watching an old Star Trek VHS.

Aldaris didn't contact me at any point. Not the next day either. Or all that week. I did get the projector from my dad, but I ended up having to return it before he got suspicious (I did get to use it to watch Interstella 5555, though). By the time I'd finished recording Wings of Liberty, it was the end of the month, and I still didn't hear anything. Well, from Aldaris, in any case.

So I was playing around on my computer. Candy Crush on facebook is addictive. I was switching the candies around, trying to beat other people's high scores, when the little bleep that meant I had a notification sounded.

"Eh." I muttered. "I'll look at that in a minute."

The next thirty minutes were eaten up by repeatedly failing the game, so I just gave up and scrolled to notifications. I had a friend request and a message. I checked the friend request first, nearly shooting tea out of my nose once I saw who it was.

"It's John!" I gasped, trying to make the tea come out of the wrong pipes - peppermint tea stings. "Statkus finally found me. Holy crap!"

What the heck, I accepted the friend request. Why not? The message was also from him.

"The picture looks like you," it read. "So I sure hope you're the right Bethany, or I'm going to look completely crazy. That being said, how did you get away from Aldaris?"

"I hope this guy's still online...oh good, he is." I started typing a reply. "You've got the right one. It's okay, our dear friend Charlie let me go. I was worried about you. Why did you yell at him? He was pretty pissed off when I got back."

It didn't take but ten seconds for my reply to go online when the "John is typing" notice appeared. Here, let me just copy/paste our conversation here.

**John: I didn't yell at him. I just told him he dies in Starcraft.**

**"Charlie"?**

**Bethany: We're calling him Charlie from now on.**

**Because it's cute.**

**John: Why not "Al"?**

**Bethany: Too obvious. The cow does not like obvious things.**

**John: ... "the cow"?**

**Bethany: Moo. **

**Anyway, what else did you tell him? He didnt know much when I got back, and asked a lot of questions.**

**John: I'll start at the beginning**

**When you and Chonna (sp?) and Toby left the ship, he told Toby to come to the bridge. **

**I got called later**

**Bethany: Cheonha.**

**John: Oh**

**"Charlie" said that Toby went home. He told me to point out where I live**

**He asked me how the game ended, and I told him.**

**Bethany: And you told him he died.**

**John: Yeah**

**Bethany: splendiferous**

**he was mad when I got back. What did you say?**

**John: he frakked out on me and said I was lying**

***freaked**

**I told him if he had a problem with it, he could go play the game himself.**

**Then he got mad and sent me back**

**What happened to you**

**?**

**Bethany: you are the shining star of diplomats. **

**John: Bite me**

**Bethany: I just might**

**I helped Cheonha get to the police station in Seoul**

**had some tteokbokki**

**John: What did you say to the Korean cops?**

**Bethany: Nothing, Cheonha went in by herself**

**She didn't want me to go with her**

**Then Charlie came and got me**

**I told him about starcraft (nicer than you)**

**and I said I would play the game for him so he could see it**

**Haven't seen him since.**

**John: He'll probably talk to you later.**

**Bethany: I think so**

**John: Did you tell anyone?**

**Bethany: No. Who are we supposed to tell?**

**Everyone will think we're nuts**

**John: I think we're nuts**

**Bethany: I'm keeping a journal so that everyone will know what happened if there's an investigation.**

**lol**

**We're nuts.**

**Did you tell anyone?**

**John: Not yet. I want other witnesses. **

**If we tell them together, then maybe someone will believe us.**

**Bethany: Let's not tell.**

**John: I found Toby. He's okay**

**Why?**

**Bethany: 1. people will think we're nuts**

**2. We've got to get Charlie used to the idea of being here, and if we're nice things will go better. He doesn't get anything from hurting humans**

**John: No**

**Bethany: 3. Who the crap do we call about aliens?**

**John: Charlie hates us. He's a threat and people have to know.**

**Bethany: He'll be less of a threat if we accept him.**

**Diplomacy**

**Not bigint people's heads off**

***biting**

**John: I don't know**

**Bethany: Don't you watch Star Trek**

**John: No**

**You nerd.**

**Bethany: lol**

**Just give him a chance to calm down. He's freaked out about everything and waiting can give him a chance to figure things out.**

**It'll be easier if he's the one deciding.**

**John: That's what Toby said.**

**Bethany: and if we tell, people will eventually figure out we're talking about Starcraft and we'll get arrested for pranking the government.**

**Lol. **

**Toby's fine?**

**John: Yeah**

**When he got back to England, he was closer to his grandma's than his house**

**He had to walk a mile to the bus and pretend he was visiting.**

**Bethany: Lol.**

We talked some more after that, but I don't feel like pasting it all here. Needless to say, I sent Toby a friend request, and me and John talked for a while after that. It was nice to have a little conspiracy going on. Conspiracies are fun.

I just hope we get to see Aldaris again.

\\\\\\\

Author's Notes:

I know you guys want some thrills and excitement. Just you wait now, okay? I've got some school to get through, as well as two other stories I'm working on, both hopefully publishable. Note that later on I'm going to have an announcement about one of them.


	7. Day One and Nearly Dying

I hate math. Well, not basic math. Any math involved in accounting isn't that bad. I'm just talking about algebra/trig. Maybe if I had a different teacher I would like the class better, but judging from how the mess I'd made on the kitchen table with all my study books and notes, probably not.

"Unnggh..."

I slammed my head into my hands. Why was this so frustrating? Was it really that hard to figure out the compound interest formula? I knew the formula by heart, so why was solving for "t" so hard? A little bit of my brain, somewhere right near the back, mentioned that I probably should have been paying attention in class instead of reading The Gulag Archipelago. Of course, I had few regrets. Surely reading the misadventures of Georgi Tenno was more important than higher math that I know for a fact I will never use in life. I'll probably be quoting Gulag for the next sixty years.

"Buh, math, you are my enemy!" I wailed, breaking out into song. "How much I hate you! I wish I could make you suffer in just the way you torment me!"

Wa-blam. Head into the table in surrendering exasperation. I seriously needed more coffee.

"...I take it you are occupied."

I shot right back up, jolly as all get out and grinning like a doofus. It was Aldaris! Cranky adventures away!

"Well, yeah," I thought back at him. "But I was just about to take a break. Sometimes I have to even leave a math final to fate. Anyway, I assume you want to see Starcraft now."

"You assume correctly."

"Okay. Give me a sec to grab everything."

Grinning like a kid on sugar, I ran up the stairs and grabbed all my materials. I hadn't edited more than an hour of Heart of the Swarm, but I could always show that later. I grabbed my adventure bag, which already had the Starcraft discs in it.

"Dude, you should have talked to me sooner." I think, hoping he was still listening. "I had to give the projector back to Dad."

"I was not going to subject myself to your nonsensical notions without first confirming what it is you claim." Aldaris said plainly. "Unfortunately, all has evidence confirmed your point. As for the projector, I believe I have a device of this kind on board."

"Oh, okay. Hopefully it has a USB port. I have a USB cord so that's not a problem. Okay, I think I'm ready."

The now familiar blue mist picked me up again, and once more I was on Aldaris' ship. I should really ask him what its name is. This time I didn't appear on the bridge, but in one of those storage rooms. That had to be what it was, or else the big piles of earth stuff on one side of the huge room made absolutely no sense. Piles and piles of random things filled the entire right side of the room (if you're facing away from the door). Big piles of chairs, colored pencils, sales catalogs, and a broken VCR only a few of the miscellaneous whatnots in the pile that extended way over my head - and none of it looked handled too gently. I found myself overcome by an urge to dig through that awesome pile of randomness, but I resisted. I'm here to show off Starcraft, not play around.

The doors opened at that point, and in came Aldaris. Seeing him, it suddenly occurred to me that I was just now meeting the real Aldaris. Before he'd just been a confused Protoss in a completely wonky situation. Today he was Judicator Aldaris in the flesh. Whatever he'd been going through before, all that was over and it was clear his mind had settled back int his regular, prideful confidence, and it was that Aldaris, standing straight as a rod, that greeted me. His gaze was like the gaze of an Aztec king, with all the wisdom and cruelty of someone who as led and ancient empire and can have me executed at any moment. I'm not quite sure why he filet the need to be all intimidating. It didn't even work. I just grinned. Now this was the real Starcraft character everyone loves to hate.

"_Annyong_! You're cheerful today!" I say, completely genuine and free of sarcasm. "Good to see you're adjusting to things better."

Aldaris just glowered, pointing behind me. "You may set up there."

From all the human objects Aldaris had gathered, he managed to find several useful things. One was obviously the projector, and it faced the back wall as it rested on a round metal table that was meant for outdoor use. Charlie'd even thought to get me a seat, and I was grateful for it, even though it was nothing more than a tattered leather footrest. I'm not picky.

It turned out there was a USB port on the computer, and I was able to set it up to project on the left side of the wall across from the door. The wall was gold-ish instead of white, so it was going to end up coloring everything a weird tinge, but it was clear enough to see what was going on.

"Okay," I say as I set up the computer. "Main screen, turn on! Now let me just get the game disc out of the bag. So dude, I have to warn you that I have to use my laptop's battery to power the projector, and that's going to make the battery wear out sooner, especially since I have to use my old laptop, because that's the one that's got Starcraft installed on it. Since I don't have anywhere to plug this in, that's going to have to be enough for today."

"You could not spare the time to acquire a portable power source?" Aldaris glared. "You had more than enough time to do so."

"Aldaris!" I exclaimed. "I'm here because I find this interesting, not because I'm your servant! I'm not here to cater to your every whim. Besides, power generators are smelly, noisy, greasy things. I didn't figure you wanted one on your ship."

Aldaris didn't comment. With an authoritarian glare, he simply placed down a large, folding chair thing a fair distance away - everything about his motions clearly said he had no intention of being anywhere near me. I shrugged it off.

"Oh hey, I was talking to the other guys, and Toby has a theory on why you're here instead of your universe. You'll find this interesting. I think you said you don't know how human years work, but according to the game manual, you're 740 years old. Since you only came about five hundred years from the past, that would make you two hundred and something years old where you come from. And since it's a paradox that there would be two of you in the same universe, you got booted out here."

"I remain uninterested in the irrelevant ponderings of a novelty shop entry-level employee." Aldaris commented without emotion. "With the computing abilities of my vessel, I do not require idle speculation from humans."

Toby worked in a shop? Huh, I'd been talking to him for weeks on the net and I didn't think to ask him that. That makes me a horrible friend, doesn't it?

"Oookay, whatever." I tapped some of the keys. "Before we begin, let me warn you of a few things. First of all, Starcraft was a game Blizzard came up with sort of on a break from Warcraft, and they didn't expect it to be popular. Thus, certain aspects of it are very lazy. For example, for the first Starcraft, most of the cutscenes don't at all match or have anything to do with the story. They're just there to look cool. Well, except for the introduction. They fixed that in Brood War, but just keep in mind that sometimes Blizzard got lazy, so if something seems off, that's a possible reason."

Aldaris said nothing, so I continued. "Also, keep in mind that this game is dystopian and from a human perspective. Don't be offended by the context, because so far as we know aliens don't actually exist at this point."

"Exactly how long must I endure this game?"

Snarky, snarky. I clicked on the Starcraft icon. "Uh, well, since we're just going for the plot, not as long as it could. We can get through the Terran missions in less than twenty minutes since I know most of the important cheats. The Zerg and Protoss ones will probably take longer because it gets progressively harder. Then there's Brood War which'll probably take slightly longer than this game, and then the videos of Starcraft 2. I edited those videos so you don't have to see the gameplay at all."

This seemed to please Aldaris, and for the moment I caught the faintest melancholy from him. Of course, the second I thought of that, Mr. Cranky Telepath picked up on my thoughts and scowled. I quickly turned away and hit the Starcraft icon. The Brood War screen popped up, flashing Artanis', Kerrigan's, and DuGalle's faces before going into the main menu. I clicked on single player, original Starcraft, then my game user name (Moody), and then okay.

"Terran missions..." I said, more or less to myself. "And skipping the tutorial. Just be aware that what you're about to see isn't going to be pretty. It starts from the attack on Chau Sara and goes to Tassadar's sacrifice. I'm sure it'll bring back memories of a lot of things you probably don't want to think about."

"Your words are excessive and unnecessary." Aldaris straightened in his chair to a dignified posture. "There is nothing within this time period that I am not willing to face. Continue."

I clicked on the first mission, that consisted of meeting up with Raynor. It didn't take long to finish. I let Aldaris hear the part where Raynor meets the Magistrate and then hit the enter key.

"There's not much plot to this level." I explain. "It's an early level for noobs to get used to building different structures, so I'll just skip the rest of it. Though I did think there was a little more to the plot than Raynor just saying hi."

"Does this game concern Raynor's history very much?" Aldaris says, bored and examining his fingernails.

"He's only the main character of the game." I snort. "Besides, knowing all this background stuff sets up the context of later stuff."

"Ugh."

"Hey, it's a human game. It's going to have a human protagonist. Though it would be cool if they showed Tassadar's perspective."

"Just get on with it."

I typed in the cheat code, and we made it through the entire Terran missions without one more quote from the one 'Toss peanut gallery. He was pretty contemplative the whole time, though I could feel like waves of summer heat his anger at the part where Mengsk abandons Kerrigan on Tarsonis. I guess he didn't know that part. But we made it through Raynor's escape from Korhal, and Mengsk's ending cinematic speech.

"Never in my life have I witnessed a thing so unsettling." Aldaris stared at the projection like a zombie. "Many of those who worked for me translated that very speech."

"It's accurate then?"

"To the very word. As much as I can recall, in any case." Aldaris turned to me, curious. "This game implies a greater passage of time then what it portrays, correct? Raynor claimed he had saved Kerrigan many times, yet this is not shown."

"Yeah. You have to remember that this is a game, and in games plot is way less important than gameplay and graphics. Though it would feel a lot longer if I weren't cheating."

"Why did Raynor not go in to save Kerrigan on Tarsonis? It should have proven a simple enough task to disobey Mengsk. He could have saved the entire Sector much grief."

"We don't know what he was doing at that point, or how far away he was. Or maybe Starcraft is just wrong, and Raynor found out about what happened afterward. And you saw what they got off the Confederate discs. The Zerg wanted any human telepath. It didn't necessarily need to be Kerri's." I clicked the mouse on the hydralisk icon. "So Charlie, you ready for the Zerg missions?"

"_What did you call me_?"

I jumped, leaning away as if that would get me away from the pissed off Judicator. Crap, that guy can go from nice to charging bull in two seconds. I didn't mean to say his nickname in front of him, but it just came out.

"Uh, nothing...nothing." I stammer. "That's just what me and the guys call you when we're talking on facebook. That way if anyone comes across what we say, they won't think we're talking about an alien. Y'know."

Aldaris' eyes narrowed, and he raised from his chair for full effect. "Bethany, do not feel that you are my only source for information. It is merely convenient for me to allow you here. Only with moderate difficulty could I find a replacement for you on your 'internet'. You may either refer to me by my name or title, or you may find something else to do with your time. Do you understand?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure."

"Now continue."

I wince, but do as he says. I wish I hadn't said anything, because he sure wasn't going to like hearing the Overmind speak.

"The Overmind?" he heard my thoughts. "What joy."

"Awaken my child," the computer sounds the Overmind's voice. "And embrace the glory that is your birthright."

I sneak at glance at Charlie (I will call him that as much as I want...when he's not paying attention), and the look on his face is priceless, no less full of horror and disgust for not having a mouth. I quickly turned away before he picked up on my thoughts.

"The Overmind is not going to be present for every Zerg briefing, is he?"

"No, just most of them. And since this next mission isn't plot important, you're gonna hear him again really soon."

"I do not understand. Starcraft would have no way of knowing if this is how the Overmind communicates."

I shrugged. "They had to make up something. The probably just picked whatever sounds the most evil."

I was able to skip a couple of missions, like the one where the cerebrate takes down a bunch of Confederates. I guess that mission was there to prove that Mengsk really was going after Kerrigan. Pretty soon we got through the mission where Kerrigan emerged from the chrysalis.

"Did you notice that the very first thing Kerrigan did as a Zerg was disobey the Overmind?" I asked.

"Of course I noticed. It was only painfully obvious." Aldaris didn't even bother turning to glare at me. "Continue."

Really, why in the world was I helping this guy? Oh well, it's not like I didn't know what I was getting into. Little did I know how bad it was going to get. Really, I should have seen this coming. But it's honestly been a while since I had last played the original Starcraft single player, and I completely forgot about it. We got through the missions where Kerrigan fights Tassadar alright, and other than mentioning how it was weird Tassadar said Kerrigan used to be honorable (maybe they'd met when Kerri was a human or something), Aldaris didn't say anything. I mean, I could feel him get increasingly agitated, but it's hard to blame him for that. When your history is turned into a game, it's hard not to be agitated.

But then it happened. It was that one mission where you have to stop Zeratul from escaping the Zerg. You know, times like this it would have proven prudent to do a test playthrough before showing it to Aldaris. Granted, I don't know how I would have hidden the mission briefing from him, but at least he wouldn't have found out about this:

"Behold, my long silence is now broken, and I am made whole once more." the Overmind's voice said through the little speakers on my laptop. "The cunning Protoss have dared strike down that which was immortal. For the Protoss who murdered Zasz are unlike anything we have faced before. These Dark Templar radiate energies that are much like my own, and it is by these energies that they have caused me harm. Yet shall their overweening pride be their downfall. For when the assassin Zeratul murdered Zasz, his mind touched with mine, and all his secrets were made known to me. I have taken from his mind the secret location of Aiur, the Protoss Homeworld. At long last, my children, our searching is done. Soon we shall assault Aiur directly."

I wasted valuable time staring at the screen in shock, precious time I should have spent hiding under the table, or maybe running away as fast as I could and hiding until Aldaris calmed down. But no, I did the dumbest thing possible: look over at Aldaris. He was fuming, and his head was encompassed by the red glow of his eyes.

"Zeratul..._Zeratul _is responsible for the destruction of Aiur?" Aldaris shook with fury. "All this time...he acted as though..."

He glanced over at me, and I avoided his gaze. Why in the crap didn't I keep my mouth shut? Pssht. I thought I could calm him down. Yeah right.

"Maybe Starcraft is wrong...once we get to the Protoss missions, you can see if it's accurate or not-"

"Be silent!" he snarled, rising from his chair. "I need no comfort from _you_, you misbegotten child of a degenerate race!"

In the most horrifying few seconds of my life, Aldaris charged out of his chair at me. Only by falling over on the floor did I escape being strangled or something. I don't care to speculate what Aldaris was planning to do, but my falling did seem to satisfy his need to punish something. I cringed, waiting for something horrible to happen.

"Yes." he said, scornfully staring down at me. "Writhe there, and never presume that you can ever understand what it means to lose all that you hold dear. Your wretched world still hangs within the heavens - be grateful for that."

My laptop beeped (thank God he hadn't knocked it over) and the projector blinked off. The battery was out. Saying nothing else, Aldaris paced out of the room, and from the way the door clicked and thunked after it closed, it was a reasonable guess that he'd locked it behind him. I didn't waste any time. Pulling out my USB cable and folding up my laptop, I repacked my survival bag (note to self, pack something for self-defense...) and got ready to go. Well, actually there wasn't any "got ready" about it. Once my bag was full and zipped up, all I had to do was sit there and hope to God that Aldaris really was going to send me back home.

I wasn't disappointed. I hadn't sat there one full minute when the blue clouds started forming again. I only started breathing again when my home appeared around me, and for several minutes I stood in the middle of my living room, trying to calm down. Once I regained my senses, I immediately ran to get my laptop's power cord. There was no way I was going to not tell Toby and John what had happened.

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Author's Notes:

- Sorry this chapter took so long. I wanted to review the game before I wrote Aldaris' reaction to it. I literally did not remember the part where Zeratul ends up being the one who lured in the Overmind to Aiur. Bet you didn't remember either. Aldaris is sure not going to forget.

- I want to do a Bonus Features segment at the end of this like I did for my Mega Man fanfiction, and it would be nice if you guys could add in some remarks or whatnot I can comment on. If you have any questions for me or any other characters, that's also fine. Also feel free to flame me if you like, or flame Aldaris. If you could meet him, what would you say?


	8. Complete and Total Failure

A couple of days passed before I heard from Aldaris again. Honestly, I wasn't so sure it was a good idea to be around him anymore. The guy's hilarious, but I would really rather not be at risk of strangulation or whatever when I'm on his ship.

Not much remarkable happened in the meantime. I passed my math final, and somehow managed a B out of that class. I'm just glad it's over. Algebra/trig is not my friend, and I will never see it again. I've always been jealous of people who can calculate things (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn could calculate latitude on a Soviet prison convoy), and it stinks that my mind is more geared toward boring things like alphabetizing books. I guess I'll never be a Mythbuster. So Jamie, Adam, none of your myths involve organizing books?

So while waiting on a call from two guys I will most probably never meet, I was just cleaning my house, and ironically working on a Starcraft choose your own adventure story, even though I'd just found out that fanfiction net guidelines don't allow CYOAs. I just looked at it, and it's literally right there. But I'm still working on it anyway, whenever I don't feel like slacking. I don't know, maybe it'll get exposure someday.

"Bethany..."

There it goes. I mentally made a note of where my survival bag was. "Yes?"

"I admit my behavior earlier was perhaps...excessive." Aldaris went on. "I would like to...apologize."

"Okay." I answered. "How about now on I have a guarantee of my personal safety every time I'm on your ship?"

"I swear it."

"Good. Apology accepted." I chuckled. A forced apology is is better than none. "Think you can handle a little more?"

"Yes." Aldaris said, still in "I'm trying to be civil" mode. D'aw. I wish he'd stop it, though, because honest angry people are less annoying than fake nice ones.

"Okay, give me just a second."

I went upstairs to get my bag. I should probably keep that downstairs from now on, but whatever. As soon as I got my stuff, Charlie went ahead and teleported me back up. The storage room was much the same as before, except the huge pile of junk was gone. Was this another storage room, or did Aldaris get rid of all that stuff? Dang. I guess it was sort of a fantasy that I was going to be able to dig through it anyway.

I had the computer set up by the time that Aldaris got there, and was patiently waiting on him on that same tattered leather seat.

"Annyong!" I wonder if Aldaris was annoyed that I always greeted him in korean. "You ready for this stuff today?"

This question proved a real stumper for the Judicator. After a minute of trying to come up with a decent retort to the insolent little human, he just rolled his eyes.

"No. I begin to question why I must endure this at all."

"Well, what I can do is just skip the last few Zerg missions, and then it's onto the Protoss missions and since you're in those you can confirm their accuracy. Not a whole lot happens in the Zerg missions that you don't already know. The mission we didn't get to last time was one where Kerrigan attacks the Dark Templar, and it's sort of implied that Kerrigan is still fighting them or has captured Zeratul when the Overmind heads for Aiur."

At this point Aldaris' eyes darken, and I try not to let my thoughts wander to why it is the Overmind found Aiur. "After that," I go on. "It's just two missions where the Overmind destroys the Xel'Naga temple and nabs some of the khaydarin crystals. There's no important details, and in fact not much besides the Overmind's embossed ramblings. I know how much you _love_ those."

"Ugh. If it will make this nonsense end the quicker, then I will not object." Aldaris did seem at least a little relieved as he went to his seat. "By all means, continue."

"Okay, here we go." I clicked on the Starcraft icon. "Hmm...uh, 'Starcraft is unable to read the required file'? 'ensure the disc is in the CDROM'...I thought I put it in already. Weird."

I opened the drive again, but there it was, the little blue disc with a Protoss zealot on it. Confused, I checked it for scratches. Finding none, I pushed it back in again and clicked the little wraith icon. "Starcraft is unable to read the required file". Facepalm.

"Looks like this disc drive is officially kaput." I told Aldaris. "Crap. Or maybe there's something wrong with the disc. Uh, maybe I can restart the computer..."

So I did. There's nothing quite like that awkward moment when an impatient, cranky Judicator is waiting on you to get something done that you're not quite sure how to make work. To be fair, Charlie was actually being half patient as the computer booted back up. I kind of got the feeling that he was doing it just to "prove" his Protoss superiority, but whatever keeps the giant reptile monster happy is fine by me.

"Okay, now, my little computer." I clicked the start icon. "You've served me well for many years, don't fail me now!"

"Starcraft is unable to read the required file."

"Son of a _bleep_." I just can't facepalm enough. "Okay, so it looks like this cd is bugged. I think I remember where my other Starcraft disc is, but I'll have to find it."

"I am almost relieved." Aldaris rose from his chair with the 'Toss equivalent of a sigh. "I will return you. Prepare yourself."

What else could I do? I unplugged my laptop from the projector and put it all back in my bag. Dang this was annoying. I hate not being ready for this, and watching Aldaris' reaction to himself is bound to be pretty funny. As soon as I was back at the house, I ran upstairs and dug through my closet, making a huge mess as I looked for my cd notebook (is it called a notebook?).

"Ah, here we go!" I tossed the holder on my desk and unzipped it. "Okay, music...music...korean language...karaoke...no Starcraft. Star-Crap. Wait, what's this?"

It was a little white sticker with several numbers on it. My cd-key!

"Hey Aldaris," it took a great effort of will not to call him Charlie as I thought my message at him. "I found my cd-key, so I'm just going to go ahead and install Starcraft on my newer laptop."

"Very well. I will call you again later. There is a problem with my ship that is of more immediate importance."

"Okay."

Installation didn't take long at all. My newer laptop, my good baby, took care of it. I'm kinda sad that I have to bring my new computer on the ship, as I really don't want anything to happen to it. Oh well. Charlie does seem like the kind of guy that would keep his promises, so maybe it'll be fine. Of course, he only promised I would be safe; he didn't say anything about my computer...

"Is the installation complete?"

"Yeah, it is. Did you get your ship fixed already?"

That got more of a reaction than expected. A fairly annoyed Aldaris growled, "No. And it will not be for some time. As it appears I shall have all the time necessary to complete repairs, and in fact more time than I desire, then perhaps the repairs can be delayed a little further."

As I got beamed on the ship, I couldn't help but feel a little doomed. Promise or no promise, hanging around a cranky giant doesn't sound like my idea of a good time. Oh well. I said I'd show him Starcraft, and at least I know he's not going to strangle me this time. Hopefully. In any case, it was back to the storage room, and I set up the projector. Aldaris entered the storage room silently and sat. Without waiting to be prompted, I hit the Starcraft icon.

"Oh. Ohhhhkay..."

The game looked like crap. Instead of a background of stars, the menu screen had several green blotches instead, and weird red sparks flooded out all the icons, resulting in a huge cacophony of neon madness. Nothing about the screen made any sense, and the "single player" option was barely legible. Aldaris facepalmed.

"It is clear I will complete nothing even moderately useful at this time." Aldaris snapped, rising from his chair. His glaring gaze turned to me, but for the first time it was (mostly) without annoyance. "Bethany, perhaps you may...eh, never mind. Can this problem be corrected?"

"I'd be surprised if it couldn't." I said, somewhat doubtfully. "I can't be the first person this has happened to. It's probably just something going on because my laptop is pretty new, and Starcraft isn't. Maybe I'll have to download something."

"And this will take long?"

"I don't think so. The solution is probably something fairly simple, like downloading a new program.

Aldaris just shook his head. "I have already recalled you too many times in the past few hours. Confident as I am in the superiority of Protoss technology, it is perhaps wiser to wait some time, and avoid drawing attention to my vessel."

"Okay." I said, getting the idea pretty quick. "So you want me to help you fix stuff?"

"If possible." the air was thick with Aldaris' contempt. "Are you at all an engineer?"

"Not in the slightest. What I know about technology can fit into a thimble."

Despite not knowing what a thimble was, Aldaris understood, and surprisingly seemed a little happy about it. "Good. Now follow me. Leave your computer here."

I winced, glancing at the beloved machine. Leaving my poor little baby all alone in a stranger's spaceship? I went ahead and turned it off, patting it atop the monitor and silently promising it that I would be back.

"It will be _fine_." Aldaris retorted. "Now if you please, let us continue."

We went down the halls together, and despite the fact that I walk pretty fast, I trailed behind him for most of the way. Not that I was complaining. I have a "thing" about people walking or standing behind me, and even if I know the person, it freaks me out and I go into survival mode where I have to either get away or start a fight. I can only imagine how bad this would be with a person several feet taller trailing behind. ...I have problems.

We went a familiar path to the front of the ship, where the bridge was. It was an utter mess. The whole left side of the room was taken up by a table that came up to my shoulders and various technological whatnots that apparently belonged to a machine on the table. I think it was an observer, but it was sort of hard to tell with half of its armor gone, several wires sticking out at every angle, and long power cords hanging off the table and dripping grease onto the floor. Other machines were under the table, and I guessed that Aldaris was using those for spare parts.

The rest of the room was likewise disheveled, and a panel was removed from the front console where the "captain's chair" (What do Protoss call it?) stood. It revealed to me nothing that I understood, just like the several opened areas to the far right, where a series of monitors and corresponding keypads lined the walls. The only thing that made any sense was a long tunnel in the front right corner of the room, to the leftmost side of the opened panels. As soon as he entered the room, Aldaris went straight for this jefferies tube (yay for Star Trek).

"What you must do is simple enough." Aldaris didn't add "for a human", but his disdainful tone sure did. "Crawl here in this tunnel, and when I ask, tell me if the power is activated. But do not touch anything."

"Okay. Sounds easy enough." I didn't relish crawling into there, but I sort of like dark, cramped places. At least I wasn't wearing clothes I care about too much. I rubbed my hands together. "I don't have to mess with anything, do I?"

"Allow me to repeat myself: DO NOT TOUCH. The workings of this vessel are complex, even for someone who has been trained for many years to work with it." Aldaris scornfully and very reluctantly stepped out of the way. "If you feel able to remember and obey this one, solitary command, then proceed."

"Dude, it's cool." I said defensively. "I have a rule: don't touch anything you don't know won't blow up. It's fine. If I'm protective of my own laptop, I'm not going to be a jerk about someone else's machinery."

Aldaris appeared doubtful, but just went over to the main console and started puttering around with it. I didn't bother waiting around for him to yell at me again, so I just crawled in. I didn't have go far. There was another open area on the left side of the jefferies tube. The entire side of it was gone, opening into a strange, technological cavern. There I sensed an internal cue from Aldaris that that was where I was supposed to be.

So I waited. The area on the left was frighteningly large, presumably to be convenient for Protoss workers. For a little human, it felt like hanging desperately onto a metal platform all while knowing there's a manufactured cave nearby, where one false move means rolling down into a large pit of unfamiliar and dangerous technology half-hidden by darkness. I peeked over the side, but could see only several bar-like things going more or less parallel to the jefferies tube. These power conduits (so I guessed) extended far into the ship, and from the odd sound that echoed down there every once in a while, I knew that the area beneath had to be bigger than I first realized. Yay.

Suddenly, some of the bars lit up that weird blue color that everybody associates with 'Toss. Yep, power conduits. With their light, I got a better look into the ship. All I saw were more power conduits, other than a few big blocks of...technological... box-like things hooking several of the power conduits together. You try describing an alien machine and see how you do.

"Bethany, how many are lit?"

"Just a few. A lot of the lower ones aren't coming on at all."

"How many of the arcane power couplings are activated?"

Maybe he meant those weird boxes. Two were lit up, sparkling a few pleasant neons. "Uh...three. One near the front is lit, but it's only glowing red."

I heard something unpronounceable from Aldaris, which probably was a swear or something. He went on with whatever it was he was doing. Thus ignored, I scooted closer to get a better look. One of those arcane power coupling things was close to the jefferies tube, a little lower down and at the right height to mess with when needed, presuming the mechanic is a Protoss. It wasn't activated, but I could see it in the light of the others. Whatever was wrong with it, I couldn't tell. But when I scooted closer, I could see a little lower down.

"Oh yuck." I wrinkled my nose. "Well, there's your problem, I think, anyway. There's a smashed bag of moldy oranges in there, and it looks like they've been dripping on stuff. It's not that far." I rolled closer to the edge, sticking my hand down as far as I could without touching anything Protoss. "I think I can reach it."

Suddenly I practically flew backwards, a tug on my leg pulling me straight out of the jefferies tube. A soon-regretted roll brought me face to face with a very pissed off Protoss.

"Did I not tell you not to touch anything?" He snapped. "One false move and I would not be able to rid the stench of your corpse from my vessel!"

"The power wasn't on..." I feebly protested.

"Yes, and you know enough of the workings of arcane circuitry to know when stupidity will not lead to certain disaster? Now get up, and stay out of my way."

I did so, and quickly. The seating on the back left wall was blocked off by the table, so I just stood near the door and felt stupid. Aldaris did something at the control panel, then went into the jefferies tube himself. Moments later, a bag of nastly, moldly oranges flew out of the tube, expelling a cloud of green dust through a gash in the plastic as it hit the floor. They were soon joined by a flying bicycle wheel, rusted and with half the spokes broken. Aldaris backed out a few seconds later, sitting on the floor and staring with disgust at the mold and orange drippings on his hand.

"Dude," I said. "I would have-"

"Keep silent." he muttered, shaking his head. "I do not wish to hear it."

There was no way Aldaris was going to wipe that on his robe, so he was forced to go use the oily rag next to the dismembered observer on the table. It didn't do much to clean his hands, and the green mold sort of congealed with the grease. However, most of it did come off his hands, and could then start typing at the computer. Charlie smacked at the keys, and several images popped up on the monitors. The image on the largest monitor showed several blinking red things in the hull of the ship. Aldaris almost facepalmed, barely remembering the orange grunge in time.

"Oh." I said. "Your recall ability normally has a safeguard against things appearing inside sensitive areas of the ship, right? I'm guessing that whatever brought you here messed up those protocols."

Protoss, just like humans, apparently don't like anyone stating the obvious. Aldaris turned and glared at me for a moment before going back to the computer and lifelessly tapping out a little more on the console. With a heavy heart he started typing in commands.

"Bethany," he said, still focusing on his work. "It may be some time before I call for you again. These repairs will require my full attention."

"Maybe at some point you'll need a break."

"Not to watch a Terran bastardization of the Koprullu Sector's recent history." Aldaris hmphed. "Return to your home, and perhaps fortune shall prove more convenient at a latter time."

Hey, he wasn't yelling for once. Not bad. And when he teleported me back, he remembered to send my computer, too. But I wasn't going to fix it just yet. Instead, I went to the kitchen and had some ramen. Ramen is tasty.

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Author's Notes:

- The thing I love about journal fiction is that I can add stuff from real life and it totally flavors the chapter I was planning on doing. There's just so much fun in letting unexpected things affect something like writing that requires a lot of planning. I seriously hope that my old computer is still okay, though.


	9. Cheonha Interlude

Cheonha had long ago stopped being amazed by Seoul. Certainly when she'd first arrived there, it had stunned her that such a place existed - that ordinary people owned cars, food was not only plentiful but on display, and that luxuries such as toys and fashion existed. The shock wore off quickly. For now it was just a city, too full of people all too eager to stare at the newcomer. It wasn't that anyone was mean to her, and the worst anyone did was stare darkly at the northern stranger. All the same, this place was alien to her. She had no idea that the few miles that separated the north from South Korea was so wide.

There was little to complain about, truth be told. Unlike her former government, Seoul's had given her more than just basic rations. They'd given her an apartment in the city, right in the most crowded part where jobs were available. They'd also given her clothes, food, and a monthly allowance, and she had just received her second month's check. Her schooling was entirely free, and in the mornings she studied Korean history, english, and math. In the evenings she worked at the local Tesco, only two blocks from her school and three from her apartment. Cheonha was glad it was within walking distance. As cheap as it was, she still could not see herself paying someone money just to drive her around.

Cheonha liked her apartment. It was about twice the size of her house, and had a full bathroom and bedroom, besides a living area and kitchen. The room was neatly arranged, with a small round table in the corner near the back window, where Cheonha could see the street below - she'd asked for, and somehow received, an apartment on the fifteenth floor. And any free day she had was spent laying on the couch, varying between staring out of the window and doing her homework, when she wasn't hanging her clothes to dry on the balcony or hanging colorful pictures of people in traditional _hanbok _dresses on the wall. This was her home, and it was going to be treated as a priceless artifact.

Cheonha blushed to think of her past. How weird had it been thinking that some farmer and his wife were rich, and lived in a mansion! Now that she'd gained perspective, it seemed that this man was just some redneck, living on the work of his own hands. Well, Cheonha was determined to do the same! Maybe she wouldn't be a farmer, but her hands would make her free!

Of course, her redneck "millionaire" wasn't the strangest part of her rescue. How could she explain what had happened to her? Could she really tell everyone that an alien had kidnapped her and some _miguks_? Had left them in a room filled with boxes and random junk until it suited him to teleport them all away? _Aldarisu_ was a mystery to her, and she had hoped that some of the government officials would explain who this alien was, as if he was some kind of ally who rescued humans in need, or perhaps an enemy who had decided not to killed four unarmed people.

The government officials had offered her no explanation of any kind as far as aliens went, and in fact mentioned space not at all. Cheonha wasn't going to speak up and look like an idiot in front of them, however. When they asked her how she had escaped, Cheonha replied that she had been rescued by a _miguk_ who had asked her not to give out details, claiming it would be good if the Chinese didn't hear about the escape plan. The officers understood this, and it was easy enough with her short height and health problems to prove her identity.

_I wonder how long it will take for me to get vitamins and grow taller. I don't like being short. It's too easy for people to look down on me. _

"Cheonha! Are you doing that again?" said another Korean girl as they both walked together down the street, dodging another barbecue stand. "You're thinking about things too much again. Come on, I didn't invite you out to the PC _bang_ just so you could think!"

Cheonha blushed. "Sorry, Eunha. I just have a lot to think about."

"I guess so, but unless you were thinking about how wonderful I look in my new jacket, you can think about it later." Eunha grabbed her bright yellow jacket by the collar and did a quick model pose. "You do like it, right? It's not too crazy when I wear it with this skirt, is it?"

"No, it works." Cheonha glanced down at Eunha's purple skirt and black stockings. "On you, anyway. I don't think I could wear that."

"I think you should wear blue. No, make it red. Remember, we have to go shopping on Sunday afternoon, and I'll help you find something nice to wear. You never wear skirts, and the Bang Bang store is having a sale..."

That was the say that Choi Eunha always talked. It was always about clothes, which member of the singing group JYJ was the cutest, or if Tesco got rid of her favorite kind of digestive cracker just to make her mad. Eunha was that sort of girl, from her short spunky hair, to her shiny high heels. She was the perfect sort of girl to work at the department store at Tesco, all colorful and just a little too shallow. Cheonha didn't mind. Sometimes she just wanted shallow talk, and she half believed Eunha acted that way on purpose.

Of course, she really didn't want to go to the Bang Bang store again, at least not for a year. She cringed to think of what she'd worn in front of the employees there, and how embarrassing it was to be seen with a half-soaked _miguk _to boot.

"I probably should take you there tonight," Eunha chattered on. "But there's a chat going on tonight for my french class, so I have to be there. Anyway, I don't like to go alone, and maybe you'll actually make a friend!"

Cheonha didn't like the PC _bang_. It was too crowded and too noisy. There were easily forty computers crowded into that apartment-sized room, not divided by so much as a little plastic partition. And yes, there were always many gamers at the PC bang playing all kinds of war games that Cheonha neither understood nor cared about. All Cheonha did the last time she was there was set up an email account, study english on a website, and wonder how often all those computer chairs were cleaned.

And so as Choi Eunha, Cheonha's coworker and only close friend, dragged her up the stairs to the computer room, Cheonha forced herself to think of all research she could do on the quickest ways to learn a new language. If she ever met _Aldarisu _or Beh...Betan...whatever her name was again, she was going to know how to communicate with them.

"Cheonha-_shee_, you can go faster than that!" Eunha laughed. "You act as if going to the PC _bang _is hard work."

"No, I like hard work." Cheonha protested. "Playing computer games is a waste of time, and I would rather earn money than waste time."

"You're off work today, so you might as well have some fun." Eunha opened the door to the PC bang, ushering her friend inside. "Besides, I'm paying for you tonight, so you don't have to worry about money."

Cheonha entered the computer room, instantly cringing as she was met all the sights and sounds involved. Walls plastered in kpop artists and video game characters, noises of dying computer villains, and the scent of a thousand instant ramen packs assaulted Cheonha's senses, hitting her like a dive into water. And it made her nauseous. However, Eunha just laughed and shoved her reluctant friend out of the doorway and towards the two people working the counter.

"Two people, two hours each, please." Eunha told the PC bang employees. "Also, a brown rice green tea, and a jasmine tea."

"That will be 8,500 won." the lady said. As Eunha handed her the money, the lady passed out two little laminated cards with numbers. "Please go to computers number 20 and 21."

And so Eunha pushed her friend further into the cloud of overwhelming noise and directed her to the proper computers. Eunha shoved the number 20 card into Cheonha's hand, and much to Cheonha's horror, there was a guy sitting at computer number 19, thoroughly engrossed in whatever game he played. The implication was obvious, and Cheonha turned and glared.

"Choi Eunha!" Cheonha hissed, trying to be quiet even though the guy was wearing his gaming headphones. "I do not need a boyfriend!"

"Lee Cheonha!" Eunha giggled. "Yes you do. This guy is very cute. Why don't you talk to him?"

"No! What am I going to say, 'hi, I am from the north and I am looking for a southern boyfriend'?"

"No, no, you ask him about the game he's playing or something."

"I do not want to talk to him, and if I did that would be my choice. Sometimes, Eunha, you just don't think about things enough!"

"I didn't mean any harm, Cheonha." Eunha patted her on the shoulder. "I just want you to be happy, and I think a boyfriend would make you happy."

"I think that letting me get used to living in Seoul before I think about such things would make me happy."

"You're using that as an excuse, and you know it." Eunha quickly sat down at computer 21 before Cheonha could take it.

Cheonha reluctantly took the other spot, trying to scoot her chair a little further away from the guy at 19. She was going to sit next to him, but she wasn't going to pretend to like it. "You need to mind your own business sometimes."

Eunha laughed. "If I always did that, you would never see the outside of your apartment except at work and school. Now let's stop arguing. Here's the _agashee _with the tea."

Now that was something the girls could agree on. Eunha accepted the teas with a polite _kamsahamneedah _and passed the jasmine tea to Cheonha. As much as she wanted Cheonha to socialize, Eunha knew when to leave her friend alone. She logged into the computer and went to her french websites to go speak to other college students, whoever would be online. She wanted to go to France for university, and she could already speak french almost fluently. The somewhat jealous Cheonha logged into her computer, wishing she had someone she could talk to in a foreign land.

_Oh well. _ Cheonha shrugged. _I need to know how to speak to foreigners first. Now what was that english website I went to before? I don't remember the link._

Cheonha activated an internet search, settling into her chair as she browsed through the links. That was the one good thing about the PC bang. It had those nice, comfortable chairs with the high backs and roller legs, perfect for letting the true gamers sit and play their silly games for hours and hours. Cheonha glanced over at the guy at computer 19. He didn't look like a bad guy, and if his hair weren't crammed under a thick pair of gaming headphones, it might actually be attractive. Of course, Eunha still didn't know what she was talking about. Cheonha knew that there was no way she could ever date someone that spent hours and hours at a PC bang, no matter how cute he looked. This guy didn't seem to be interested in anything but his game, anyway. Cheonha, a little bored, glanced at his computer screen. And she gasped, her eyes nearly falling out of her head they grew so wide.

"Ah, _shillyehamneedah_..." Cheonha tapped the guy on his shoulder and pointed at the screen, far too curious to be shy. "Who is that?"

"Eh?" The guy pulled the headphones halfway off his left ear. "What did you say?"

"I just wanted to know, who is that on the screen?"

"Haven't you ever heard of Starcraft?" the guy asked. "That's Tassadar, and that's Aldaris. They're characters in the game."

"What game is that?"

"Starcraft, of course."

The guy glanced at her, his annoyed eyes softening as he realized how short she was. Cheonha tried not to visibly cringed, wishing her origins weren't so obvious. For the time being, however, the guy said nothing about it and simply pulled out his headphones, leaning over toward her computer.

"If you want to play, it's probably installed on the computer." the guy continued. "Go to the start menu, and I'll show you where to find it. Do you want to play the new version? I'm playing the old version right now, but there's a new Starcraft with better graphics, if you want."

"No, I will start with the old one first." Cheonha said. "Now, where is this game?"

"You have to get the game disc from the workers up front, but once you have it, you just click on the start menu and search for 'Starcraft'." the guy pointed to the search option. "That's all you need to do."

"Thank you very much."

The guy nodded, replacing his headphones and restarting the mission briefing he'd missed. Thus began the night, and Cheonha spent the whole two hours playing Starcraft, and even bought her and Eunha four more hours. All of Seoul became a blur to Cheonha, as she steadily progressed into the game, and lost any and all expectation that life should make sense. Before she knew it, it was half past midnight, and Eunha had to drag her out of the PC bang before she spent the whole night doing internet searches on a minor Starcraft character. After all, Cheonha did have school the next morning. School, however, no longer seemed so important.

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Author's Notes:

- Sorry about the long wait. I wanted to take a bit to get some writing done, and admittedly I've had some very important slacking to do. I do have a little backlog going on, but I may have to post much of it next update because it can't be separated. Whatever. It's story, and it's coming up. As soon as I get past showing Aldaris all of the Starcraft stuff, updating quicker probably can happen. I have to make the chapters interesting without telling you what you already know.

- As you've probably guessed, none of the characters up there are speaking english. Just clarification. Anyway, Cheonha has a hard time saying my name, because the "th" in Bethany is a sound that only exists in english and gaelic. Also, korean doesn't have the "v", "f", and "z" sounds. Trying to spell foreign words with those sounds in korean is...interesting.


	10. The First Protoss Missions

It wasn't all that long when I next heard from Aldaris, actually. It felt pretty long, because of stupidity. It turns out that I couldn't go to school this summer, which really stinks because I wanted to avoid a teacher that a friend of mine said was far too ready for retirement. I hadn't gone to school in the fall, so I thought it would transfer my grant money to summer automatically. Turns out that you have to fill out this tiny little form, which I found out about on the last day of summer registration. Communication in the age of the internet really sucks. How in the world was I supposed to know that?

On the plus side, the pool at my parent's apartment opened up, so that was a bonus. Except for today, when it was cloudy out, and chances were it would rain. Of course, not that weather in my city ever made sense, so maybe I was reading too much into the foreboding clouds. Either way, I didn't feel like swimming. I didn't really feel like doing anything, other than going to the store to buy some ice cream, only I need the money more than the food (my posterior would thank me later). So I just lay there on my living/dining/conspiracy room and stared up at the ceiling. I'm so dang efficient with my time.

"_Suyong-haeyo..._" I said, trying to remember all the korean associated with swimming that I just learned. "_Suyong jang_. I want to go swimming. _Na-nun suyonggo ship'o. _Well, actually _an suyonggo ship'o, _but whatever."

Yeah, I probably should have been studying. There's just so much to do, and I had no desire to get to work on any of it. I could work on my korean, or study my accounting textbook to make up for the scatterbrained teacher I'm apparently headed for, or go take a walk and pretending I'm actually going somewhere. Meh.

"Aldaaaaris!" I called out. "I'm booooo-ooored..."

I don't know what I expected, and my bored hand fell over my bored face. Huh. Going out for ice cream was starting to sound like a really good idea. Maybe I could go to the park and study my korean there. Of course, if I went to the grocery store instead of the gas station, I could sit in the coffeeshop and write, as well as spend less money and get more ice cream. Besides the cost of whatever coffee I got over at the shop.

"Well, what is it you expect me to do about it?"

"Yes!" My alien BFF was there! I hopped up from the floor. "Nah, you don't have to do anything but be your cheerful self."

"...I can see I must deal with you at your most shiftlessly frenetic today."

"No, not quite true. I only had one cup of coffee so far."

"Then if you are capable of collecting yourself, do so. I will have you aboard shortly."

I snatched up my laptop, this time deciding that maybe I didn't need my survival bag. After all, the teleporter hadn't zapped me to the Sahara desert the past two times I was on the ship, so it probably wouldn't this time either. I always keep the Starcraft discs next to the computer now, so even though it didn't take long for him to recall me, I had to wait a little bit.

Back to the storage room! Yay. I wonder how big this ship is. Maybe it's not all that big, for a Protoss vessel. After all, Aldaris seems to be able to handle it without any crewmembers. So how did it come about that he was on a ship by himself when he gets zapped to Earth? He didn't look at any point that he was grieving the loss of any friends, though it's questionable whether or not he would have shown that kind of thing in front of me. On the other hand, he hasn't exactly been put together all the time in front of me, so I might have caught it if he was upset that whatever sent him here killed a friend.

His actions today spoke against that. He entered the room, very calm and in control. And also looking at me funny, but what else is new? Other than that, he seemed unperturbed, ready to deal with whatever antics the crazy human might cause. And if I do cause any, it's his fault for letting me on the ship.

"Hey, you're in a much better mood today."

"It would appear that I am not going to suddenly wake to find myself in places more familiar." Aldaris retorted. "Thus I must resolve myself to tolerating these circumstances as best as is possible."

"I know the feeling, sort of." I got my computer up and running. "Maybe you can't compare working in a fast food place to traveling to another universe, but it's really bad in its own way. Working in a used bookstore is so much better; people who want books are so much less cranky than people who want food."

"I shall take your word for it." Aldaris patiently relaxed in his chair. "Has the color glitch been repaired?"

"Yep. I just copied some code into notepad and saved it as a .bat file." I typed into the search function of the start menu. "I have to use that file to open Starcraft from now on, but that's no biggie."

"Hm." Aldaris paused a second. "Whatever is your obsession with such creatures?"

"Huh?" I looked up at the screen, and the projector was showing my computer's new background, a black and white picture of a broadnose sevengill shark. "Oh, that's just my latest craze. The broadnose sevengill is first shark I've ever seen that I don't get creeped out looking at." I grinned. "I should probably thank you for the opportunity to go swimming with them the other day."

"Toby expressed, in rather trepidatious terms, that you were in significant danger."

"Not particularly. Sevengills aren't that dangerous. Not as long as I don't do something stupid like try to touch it, I'dve been fine. Except I wasn't supposed to swim upwards like that in front of a shark. Sevengills are probably fine, but other sharks might think I was a seal or something." Starcraft activated, and I clicked on single player. "Alright, so Protoss missions today."

"You said before that the Protoss missions would confirm the accuracy of this game?"

"Yeah. You're in most all of the Protoss missions. Not as a playable character, though."

"I am so _enthralled _to see how I am defined by a Terran entertainment corporation." Aldaris said, heavily bored (or pretending to be) as he rested his chin in his hand. "Well, perhaps it is best done quickly. Get it over with."

"Mm'kay." I can't help grinning as I click on the zealot icon. "Let's just say that nothing I've seen from you so far is exactly contrary with anything I saw in the game."

You know how you can tell when people are staring at you even when you're not looking at them? I let Aldaris bask in my gleeful grin and clicked on the first Protoss mission.

"En Taro Adun, Executor." said the in-game Aldaris. "I am Judicator Aldaris, and I have been sent by the Conclave to serve and counsel you. The former Executor, Tassadar, was commanded to halt the Zerg progress in the Terran sector by burning the infested human worlds. Unfortunately, he disregarded his orders and attempted to destroy the Zerg while sparing the Terrans from the flame. Clearly, Tassadar has failed us. You must not. The Conclave has dictated that our first priority is to strengthen our defenses. You must reinforce our outpost in Antioch and make certain that the province does not fall to the Zerg. Your old comrade, Praetor Fenix, will meet you there and assist you in this endeavor."

I had to look at Aldaris after that. It was so freaking hilarious to see him staring at the screen. I'd gone through and watched the missions earlier, but only now could I hear how absolutely similar Aldaris and his voice-acting counterpart sounded.

"In case you're wondering." I giggled. "That's Paul Eiding who did your voice. Pretty big voice actor. Did a lot of stuff."

"That..." he said slowly. "That is...actually very similar..." Here he paused and glanced at me briefly before facing the projection again, his eyes crinkling with annoyance. "What are you waiting for? Continue."

I let his reaction pass. "Oh hey, I think I can skip this mission. It isn't much more than a 'this is how you play Protoss' introduction."

"No, play it through. I wish to see if the landscape in any way corresponds to Aiur." Aldaris frowned. "What are those miserable noises? Is that supposed to be what our warriors sound like?"

"Uh, well, from what I can tell Blizzard used a lot of stock sounds when making Starcraft, because it was just a side from Warcraft." I guided the little zealots to Fenix's position. "It's possible they just picked something that sounded weird just to be different."

"Stock sounds?"

"Yeah, sounds that aren't copyrighted and can be used without being paid for. There's a lot of that sort of thing. You'd be surprised how many questions can be answered with 'Blizzard is lazy'."

We went through the next couple of missions, where Tassadar and Aldaris are going back and forth about cerebrates and their control over the broods. All the while the reptile sitting beside me grew more and more pale. He stared dumbfounded at the words on the screen, and though doubtlessly his real conversations with Tassadar wouldn't have been in english, what he heard before him was clearly having an affect. He didn't say a word or show an emotion other than utter shock until just after the conversation on Char with Tassadar and Raynor. And that was only because I asked. He was starting to get creepy just sitting there, his glowy eyes popping out of his face.

"I take it there's at least a little accuracy in the game so far."

Aldaris blinked, waking himself from his stunned stupor. "Er...somewhat. The landscape of these missions is entirely incorrect, to my knowledge."

"And the dialogue?"

"You may remove that expression from your face." he growled. "The lines are...vaguely representative for being in foreign words. Raynor's dialogue was slightly inaccurate."

"But not yours, I take it."

"There were a few changes." Aldaris insisted, quick to change the subject. As he did, he was better able to control his tone. "For example, certain words such as 'pray', 'heresy', and 'faith' all have religious connotations. That is inaccurate to the context of what I truly said. Why did Blizzard choose such a translation?"

"Oh, _everything _bad happens because of 'religious' people, _of course_. And they call believers judgemental." I snorted. "Such is the current wave of culture. Don't worry about it. It's not you they're trying to offend, but people like me."

"And my character is the tool with which they do so?"

"You and...pfft, I don't know how many others in movies and such right now. Though honestly, in the context of the game it makes sense. Isn't the Khala a religion?"

Aldaris winced, clearly not happy I could talk about the Khala. "Not by human classification. The Khala is a link between the Protoss. While it is vaguely spiritual in application, it has no god attached to it."

"That could still be a religion. Buddhism doesn't have a god, I think. I guess the Khala could sort of be like that, because Buddhism doesn't have a god, but a lot of Buddhist Asians have their own local gods."

"I assure you, nothing about Protoss culture can be compared to that of humans."

"It's a vague reference. Anything can be compared to anything, if you try hard enough."

"Then stop trying."

Lol. Well, I could continue annoying Aldaris, but showing him the Protoss missions was more funny. I clicked on the next one. It's the one where you have to bring two zealots and Tassadar to the Zerg base entrance.

"I do not understand." Aldaris said. "If Tassadar learned upon Char that it was the Dark Templar energies that the cerebrates found so repulsive, why did he not say so at the first? This action alone caused much animosity in the Conclave against him."

"I don't know. It's entirely possible that the Dark Templar didn't even know that it was their energies that destroyed the cerebrates. They were at square one with the Zerg, just like everybody else. Maybe they were just killing the cerebrates, and it never occurred to them that cerebrates could come back to life, maybe not until Tassadar's force's tried to destroy one and it didn't work."

"Much trouble could have been nonetheless avoided." Aldaris muttered.

"Tass does come off as pretty rash. Actually, there's a little bit here that I totally don't get." I started building carriers, rushing the process with operation cwal. "Maybe you can explain it."

I led one of my carriers toward the north part of the map, provoking some additional dialogue.

"Protoss Commander, this is General Edmund Duke of the Terran Dominion Armada. You are in violation of our air-space and have endangered human lives in your reckless attack against the Zerg. I order you to withdraw your ships immediately. If you fail to comply, I will not hesitate to open fire upon your vessels."

"General Duke," answered the Protoss commander. "I am Tassadar, and you are well known to me. Whatever leniency I extended to you and your comrades before, may have been in error. If you persist in halting our course, we will burn your pathetic fleet down to the last man."

"I'm going to have to assume that was a hostile response..."

"Do you know what that's about?" I asked. "I mean, presumably Raynor told Tassadar about Mengsk and Duke and all, but did Duke do something to the Protoss? Sure it's really presumptuous of Duke to order him around, but Tassadar's reaction seems really irrational. He doesn't gain anything by provoking a new enemy. Clearly Duke doesn't even know who he is."

"I know little of Edmund Duke." Aldaris answered. "From what I have heard, he spends most of his time fighting his own kind in the name of his emperor. As for Tassadar, those words do not surprise me. Tassadar had unlearned all lessons of diplomacy in his rebellion against the Conclave, and was never at any time a close companion of patience. Considering how disturbingly close this game has been in translating what was actually said, I would not at all be surprised should this prove a direct quotation of Tassadar's, particularly as it had to have been said in english."

"Does that mean the things you said were accurate?" I grinned. "I always liked that line where you go 'I find your choice in companions ever more inexplicable'. Was that in english too?"

"You are insane." Aldaris retorted. "Is it merely to torment me that you smile as you say this? Surely you are offended by such things."

"I actually think it's really funny, for some reason." I entered in the end mission cheat code. There wasn't anything left to see in that mission. "Besides, I don't have time to worry about what some alien thinks of us. I'm much more concerned about the _humans _who hate humanity."

Aldaris rolled his eyes. "More of your internal wars, I assume."

"Not even that. There's this strange philosophical movement that's been going on recently that humans are all horrible and we're going to end up killing ourselves. This is really bad, because if you hate what you are, your only logical choice is suicide. And yet there's all this literature out there about how humans are all stupid, ignorant rednecks polluting the earth, starting wars, and hating everyone that's different. When you talk crap about humans, it's just racism and not worth giving a flying rat crap about. When we hate ourselves...well, depression is a killer. Dude, don't you give me that look."

It was Aldaris' turn to grin spitefully, and yes, people with no mouths can smile, sort of. "It is amusing to see that there are those on Earth who come to the same conclusion as those of us outside it. Perhaps such people are merely logical."

"Or perhaps you're a racist."

I clicked "ok" on the post-mission information to make the next mission start and Aldaris shut up. It didn't take long for me to grin. I love the mission where Tassadar has to rescue Zeratul.

"This mission is so much fun." I say as soon as the mission dialogue is over. "It's really hard, and the only two times I beat it without cheating, only Tassadar was alive at the end. Oh, except one of those times a ghost lived because he could cloak. The other time a zealot would have lived, except that this infested terran from the beginning of the map - oh look, that one right there that I'm not going to fight - got activated at the end and made his way to the end and killed the guy."

"A maze map." Aldaris groaned. "Is it truly necessary to play through this?"

"Yeah, there's some good dialogue at the end. Don't worry, I know the shortest route through this place." I brought Tass and the zealots to the first group of marines. "In this mission you really learn how much stronger zealots are than marines. I always save a lot to make sure I have lots of marines at the end, when I play normally."

"And these marines were willing to fight alongside the Protoss?"

"Why not? From the looks of it, these guys have been holed up in this facility with a bunch of Zerg outside for a while. A 'Toss would be a nice change from that."

"And Zeratul was here as well?"

"Yeah, he's in the back. Somehow behind a giant wave of Zerg, but that's probably something the game designers came up with rather than something that was really there."

"If this is a Terran facility, then why do those autocannons fire at the marines?" Aldaris pointed to the projection.

"Uh...many infested Terrans only show up when marines walk by, so the autocannons are probably only activated when Protoss walk by. Gameplay mechanic more than anything real, probably."

I knew that particular mission pretty well, so I was able to send a zealot to unlock the doors for the later pathway without losing a lot of time. It wasn't too long before Zeratul was rescued, and the end dialogue was activated. Aldaris narrowed his eyes at the mention of Tassadar learning Dark Templar ways, and even further at Zeratul's final line.

"Since our banishment long ago, we have never failed in our responsibility to Aiur. Though it shall cause us great pain to see our homeland once more, we shall return with you, Tassadar. We will do what we can."

"Never failed." Aldaris muttered. "Says the one responsible for the Aiur invasion..."

"It's entirely possible," I say slowly, keeping Aldaris' guarantee of safety in mind. I wish he would stop talking about Zeratul informing the Overmind of Aiur's location. Cranky 'Toss are scary. "That Zeratul didn't even know he did that."

"Oh what, that one's mind should be touched by that of another, and the Overmind would not indeed look for that one piece of information above all else?" Aldaris snapped. "Whatever Zeratul claimed for his 'responsibility to Aiur', it is clear his efforts have proven to be an utter failure!"

"Dude, Starcraft isn't going to get any prettier. If you don't think you can handle it, then you shouldn't watch anymore."

We stared at each other for a minute, Aldaris clearly insulted. I wasn't going to back down, not if he was going to be such a jerk. Everyone needs to be aware of their own limitations, even emotional ones.

"I am perfectly capable," Aldaris said, forcing himself into the sort of calm that politicians have when reporters ask annoying questions. "Of 'handling' anything your silly game can now reveal. Is there anything there that could possibly prove more horrifying than what Zeratul has done?"

"I guess that depends on your interpretation." I thought about it a sec. "But I'll go out on a limb and say no."

"Then by all means continue."

We went on, but it didn't take but one mission for Aldaris to open his mouth again - metaphorically speaking. The very next mission was the one where Tassadar wanted everyone to attack the Conclave. The aura of tension around Aldaris was palpable, and I braced myself for another angry diatribe. Only it wasn't quite what I expected.

"That did not happen!" Aldaris exclaimed, leaning forward in his chair as if to accuse the projection. "At no point did Tassadar attack the Conclave! And certainly not Raynor. For what reason would even an impudent human involve himself in an attack against the Conclave at such an hour? Only the dark ones would have a motive for doing so, but even they are not so foolish as to choose the Conclave over the Zerg!"

"Er...um..." I tried to think of something. "Well, it's points like this where you have to remember that Starcraft is a game. The single player campaign is basically a preparation for playing against other people on , and so that means every race has to fight all the others. So that means there has to be a Protoss versus Protoss mission at some point."

"That is clearly not the idea." Aldaris said, scornfully eyeing me. "For there was no Protoss versus Terran mission, unless General Duke's apparently optional wave of air power was seen to fulfill such an obligation."

I thought about it a second. Aldaris was right. Most of the Protoss missions in Starcraft were against the Zerg. There wasn't one genuine PvT until Brood War. Aldaris heard these thoughts and nodded.

"If Blizzard meant to alter the truth, perhaps they could have created some foolish mission where a band of Dominion forces attempted to destroy the Conclave in order to destroy Protoss authority." Aldaris folded his arms. "That would have made more sense than Tassadar himself attacking the Conclave. At no point would he have done so during Aiur's darkest days."

"Then what really happened?"

Aldaris watched me suspiciously for a moment, I'm not really sure why. Really though, what did he have to lose by telling me? I wasn't going to click the start mission button until he went on, in any case. My little pouty posture said so.

"Tassadar returned to Aiur, as the game has shown." Aldaris continued. "But his arrival was discovered quickly. Rather than cause his followers to suffer, he surrendered himself to the Conclave's judgement. Most of the factions following him scattered, though the Dark Templar were never far from him. They contacted the Conclave and mentioned that a great wave of Zerg intended to attack, and they would not intervene on our behalf without the release of Tassadar."

"And you didn't?"

"No, the Conclave did not." Aldaris said, with a rather nice dodge of personal responsibility. I managed a straight face. "As it happened, the Dark Templar were not lying. The Zerg attacked the Conclave very shortly thereafter. There was apparently a miscommunication, as the first person to come to our aid was none other than Commander Raynor."

"Raynor? Why?"

"I know not, though it can be presumed he did not wish Tassadar to die in this battle. I was told that the Dark Templar could not bear to watch as their own kind were slaughtered by the Zerg, but the fact remains that it was Raynor's men who first appeared to aid us. The dark ones joined the fray shortly thereafter."

"And where were you during all of this?"

"Elsewhere, overseeing our defenses in the west. My rank was one of more direct authority than the members of the Conclave, and I learned most of what happened afterwards. I arrived only to witness the last of the battle, when those in my authority covered the Conclave's retreat. Tassadar was released from his cell once the battle was over, to find that his wish had apparently come true: that the Protoss were no longer divided. Hmph. Tassadar was so young and quick to reach conclusions...it is perhaps for the best he never learned that his dream was a falsehood, and would not stand the test of time." He blinked, returning to the present, and glanced down at me. "Continue playing. Perhaps there is at least a little worth learning from this mission, though it is grossly inaccurate."

After that, Aldaris didn't say very much. He was caught up in his own thoughts, and the stuff that was going on before him could only bring back memories Aldaris really didn't want to think about. Other than admitting that some of the dialogue at the end of the "attack the Conclave" mission actually took place when Tassadar first returned to Aiur, Charlie had nothing to say, not even as we watched the cinematic where Tassadar destroys the Overmind (though I did get the impression he wasn't all that pleased by the low-res graphics). Pretty soon Starcraft was over.

"Want to go ahead and go to Brood War?" I asked.

Aldaris only nodded.

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Author's Notes:

- This chapter was going to contain both the Starcraft and Brood War Protoss missions, but it was getting too long. And I wanted to make sure that this story updates fairly often, my break aside.


	11. Protoss and Politics

Well, we'd just finished off the story on the Starcraft disc, there in a storage room on Aldaris' ship. The power on my laptop wasn't gone yet, so I could try to show him what happened next. I'd already installed the Brood War disc, so I didn't make him watch the opening cinematic. I didn't think he would like seeing DuGalle and Stukov watch pitilessly as their men died. For the moment, I loaded up the single player missions

"Hey, quick question." I hovered the mouse over Artanis' portrait. "Artanis here is portrayed as a Dark Templar, but in his character bio he's said to be a High Templar. Which one of those is right?"

"Both, technically speaking." Aldaris replied. "He served among the High Templar in the Cyclades province, where his nerve cords were severed in battle. He began to study the dark ways in an effort to 'reach out' to those of Shakuras."

"Oh, so once those things are cut it's all over, then?"

"Much as the severing of the arm, yes, with the added measure of severance from the Khala." Aldaris was stiff as he spoke, and he straightened further as if his posture somehow made him superior. "To lose them is quite painful, I am told."

"Yeesh. Poor Artie." I flicked my ponybun. "I think I like hair better."

"Suit yourself."

Aldaris resumed his silence for the first couple of episodes, studying the projection quietly as I went through the evacuation mission and the warp gate mission. We made it all the way to Kerrigan's appearance with him in contemplative silence.

"I wonder..." Aldaris mused. "If it were truly necessary for Kerrigan herself to come to Shakuras. Whether or not she wished the cerebrates to be destroyed, we were obligated to protect ourselves, and using the Xel'Naga temple was a good strategy even without her influence, if perhaps there were no alternative I was unaware of."

"I always assumed that she didn't think you guys would be able to get the crystals in time, or maybe she had to secure her control over Raszagal." We'd already heard the intro dialogue in the mission where the player grabs the Uraj, so I entered in the end level cheat. "But yeah, it does seem kinda weird she would bother showing up and risk people finding out about her plan. Unless she wanted some Dark Templar to go ahead and destroy the new Overmind right away."

"There truly was another Overmind?" Aldaris asked. "This was not one of her lies?"

"Not at all. The best liars never lie, not if they can help it. Besides, it's the most obvious option for the cerebrates, who've lived under hims so long. Of course they'd try to bring him back."

"Hmm." We got through the next mission dialogue, the one where Zeratul and Artanis go to Char, before Aldaris continued. "This would be better with more detail. For what reason does Artanis suggest attacking this new Overmind without destroying it? Surely if they had the resources to injure it and make their escape, then it would be little more effort to succeed in destroying it. Certainly the Zerg would be far better prepared to defend it."

"I don't know what to tell you." I shrugged. "That's just how the game turned out. Maybe the game is wrong, or maybe Kerrigan offered them a lot of help. Or maybe they did try to destroy it, only there were Zerg reinforcements on the way. Though my official opinion is that Blizzard was just trying to introduce choices into the game and that's just how it turned out. Do you know anything about their trip?"

"Little. They contacted us briefly after retrieving the Uraj." Aldaris' eyes narrowed, but he didn't explain any further.

"Well, there's no point in me actually playing this mission." I said, typing in the cheat. "It happens, ends, and that's it. However, the next mission, uh...well, I hope you're ready for this."

I didn't have to say it. Aldaris picked up on my nervous thoughts and shook his head. "I knew this eventuality would arise. Indeed, I was aware of the possibility in that situation, before my arrival to Earth. Just let it be done as quickly as it can be."

"Okay."

The mission briefing was first, and I had to admit it was kind of scary watching Aldaris listen in on this conversation, where Raszagal ordered Zeratul to kill him. Aldaris' quiet wrath filled the storage room like a poisonous mist as Zeratul expressed his doubts over his matriarch, and yet did not a thing about it. But he said nothing, and I avoided the Judicator's gaze by quickly building a lot of scouts.

"Show me the money...operation cwal..." I murmured. "Mm'kay, so this is actually a really interesting mission. Black sheep wall...so if you click on your little character here, tada! Tassadar's unit portrait."

"Is that symbolism?" Aldaris said, sounding sort of tired. "Or can that be answered by 'Blizzard is lazy' by simply using what was already programmed for Tassadar?"

"More than likely the latter, with convenient symbolism."

"Well, at least the player is on my side, for a few minutes at least."

"For at least an hour." I said optimistically. "The game takes much longer when you're not cheating."

Aldaris just rolled his eyes. With some quick cheating, I built up a lot of scouts and sent them against each of the Aldaris figures, then went for the real one.

"I'll have to take off power overwhelming." I said, typing it into the computer. "The cheat makes neutral characters invincible too, so then Kerri would just be standing there, slicing you all day."

"I thank you, young human." Aldaris said dryly. "For that ever so _pleasant _bit of mental imagery."

The ending dialogue came up. I guess it might have been a while that some of you readers have played the game, so I'll go ahead and quote the dialogue in full. Yay for copy/paste!

"It is finished, Judicator." Zeratul said. "Surrender your remaining forces, and join us in eradicating the Zerg."

"I would sooner die, dark one, than tarnish the memory of Aiur by joining with you." Paul Eiding's Aldaris snarled in return. "Your fate was sealed the moment your Matriarch allied herself with the Queen of Blades! Those of us still loyal to Aiur will never be slaves to Kerrigan and her Broods."

"Aldaris, be reasonable!" the cute little puppy Artanis pleaded. "Kerrigan has changed. She no longer seeks to enslave everyone. Do not force us to destroy you."

"You can no longer afford to be so naive, Artanis." Aldaris said as a couple of overlords cruised in, unloading lurkers and the Queen of Blades. "While you were securing the crystals, I discovered that your Matriarch has been harboring dark secret! She has been manipulated by de-

"We have no time for this!" Kerrigan suddenly announced. She and her lurkers made short work of digital Charlie. I dared to take a look at non-digital Charlie, but he still just studied the projection, his face stern as ever.

"Kerrigan..." Zeratul gasped. "What have you done?

"I just cleaned up your mess, Protoss. Don't be so squeamish."

"Wretched creature! This was a Protoss matter; you had no right to interfere! Begone from this world! You are no longer welcome among us!"

"Fine. I've done what I came here to do. I've insured the destruction of the renegade Cerebrates, and I used you to do it. Have fun, mighty Protoss... We'll be seeing each other again, real soon..."

I shook my head. "What I don't get about this mission is why Zer just doesn't shoot her right then and there. I mean, come on, with that kind of statement it's evident she has further plans for the Protoss. Shoot her in the face already, Zeratul! I mean dang!"

"It is perhaps another inaccuracy of the game." Aldaris said quietly. "Though Zeratul has already proven in my experience to be hesitant in killing."

"You're not really mad?" I asked.

"Of course I am angry." Aldaris said, resting his chin on a hand. "But it is not so bad as I expected. It is good to know that my death was caused by Kerrigan, rather than another. A death at the hands of my own race, even those of the dark host, is not preferable. Kerrigan herself chose to slay me, and that is something, if it is accurate."

"Um, if I can ask, why didn't you just tell Zeratul straight out that Raszagal was under Kerrigan's control? I mean, worst case scenario, Zer might have been under Kerrigan's influence too, and telling him wouldn't make things any worse than they already were."

Aldaris shrugged slightly. "I do not know. The anomaly that brought me here occurred shortly after my departure from the executive citadel. I had just begun the evacuation of those loyal still to Aiur, though it is all beginning to look as though this decision was not the wisest. Again, if Starcraft at all reflects reality in this matter."

"Wasn't it accurate earlier, other than Tassadar attacking the Conclave?"

"Surprisingly so, yes. Though the words themselves more so than the missions." Aldaris stretched his legs a bit further out. "I am reluctant to watch more of this. How many more Protoss missions remain?"

"Just one more. It's the one where Zer and Artanis activate the Xel'Naga temple and destroy the Zerg."

"I see." Charlie lazily swatted the air in the direction of the screen. "Finish it."

Nothing remarkable happened. We got through the mission dialogue, and Aldaris let me skip the mission - he clearly wasn't in the mood to wait around thirty minutes for the mission to end. He sat quietly through the cinematic. As if on cue the projector cut off at the near end of the cinematic, closing down that session of Starcraft.

"That was...something." Aldaris rubbed his eyes. "How much of this game remains?"

"Uh, well there's the Terran and Zerg missions left, and then Starcraft 2." I folded down my laptop and unplugged the projector. "It's a recording I edited instead of a game, so it'll be easier to deal with."

"When the time comes, I will prefer to view Starcraft 2 alone." Aldaris said. "Your disc technology is similar to human technology of my period, and I doubt it should prove difficult to load a simple recording."

"Mmkay." I said, trying to stop wondering how a Protoss figured out human technology. "Do you want to hold onto the Starcraft discs?"

"No." Aldaris said, with just a touch more emphasis than necessary. "Bethany, there is something I feel is necessary to discuss with you, and perhaps should have been spoken of earlier than this present time."

"Okay. What's on your mind?"

"As of this point, you have done little in the way of diplomacy. At most, you cautioned that my status as a 'fictional character' prevents you from telling your authorities that I have come. I can perhaps hope, for your sake, that you remember that you bear some responsibility to the well being of your planet."

I blinked. "Um, meaning what?"

"Meaning," Aldaris folded his hands in front of him and assumed the posture of lecturing teacher. "That I ask to know your intent in when it comes to a foreign being staying within the orbit of Earth. You spoke of my being the first 'alien' to travel here, and thus your world has no regulations in this matter. Thus, you, and to a lesser extent, John and Toby, are at your leisure to create whatever precedent you see fit. You shall determine Earth's reaction not only to myself, but any other extrinsic creature to reach this world. I suppose I could simply have queried your mind directly, but as you have thus far been open, I prefer simply to ask."

Aldaris patiently awaited my answer, smugly folding his arms as if he already knew (okay, heck, he probably already knew) that I don't have a plan at all. I straightened my posture, trying to look as dignified as anyone can in a neon pink plaid blouse and jeans.

"To be honest, I've kind of been making this up as I go along." I admitted. "I mean, maybe John has some sort of plan, but it was my intention to base our actions more or less on you. For now, me and John have been writing everything down in case something happens, but it's as good as fanfiction at this point. I have no clue who to tell about this sort of thing without being thought of as some nerdy fruitcake that's so trapped in her own fantasy that she has to pretend Starcraft is real."

"I admit I do not fully comprehend what it means to have never known extraplanetary beings to exist." Aldaris was lookin' mighty smug for someone admitting he didn't understand. His eyes glowed a gentler red as they stared down at the inferior creature before him. Jerk. "As circumstances stand, it is not my will to serve as an ambassador to your kind. If you wish to gain a grander perspective towards the universe at large, then your species must do so on its own."

"Okay then." I piped up. "Contrary to what it might seem, I have put at least a little thought into things. But let me answer this with a question. You're asking me my intention, so what's yours? What exactly do you plan on doing here?"

"Amusing." Aldaris chortled, not entirely merrily. "You sincerely believe that had I darker motivations, I would simply admit them to you?"

"You forget that I have the advantage here. I got to see your character in Starcraft, so I automatically know a little better how you think." I grinned. It was nice to wipe that smug look off Aldaris' face. You'd be surprised how expressive someone can be with only one third of the normal facial features. "Quite frankly, I'd be surprised if you had any darker motivations at all. You're the kind of guy that doesn't like to get his hands dirty. When something needs to be done, you send Templar to do it, like when Chau Sara was burned up."

"I am hardly responsible for each and every decision made by the Conclave." Aldaris retorted. "That decision was not my own. I was responsible for related administrative tasks, not sending out Tassadar to destroy humans simply because it amused me to do so."

"Well, that kind of proves my point. You don't like killing things just for the fun of it. If something doesn't have a purpose, you don't do it. You're not going to shoot down a bunch of populated cities just to watch people scream. Besides, it's not like killing any of us will do your future any good. Even if this is really the past and you're from the future, then shooting down military targets is only going to insure that we remember Protoss and develop weapons over the years specifically designed to be anti-Toss. And if this is an alternate universe to Starcraft, then doing anything to us will simply have no effect whatsoever on your time period. Given your dignified persona, I'd say there's very little chance you're going to do something stupid simply because you don't like humans."

"Well said." Aldaris folded his hands. "What then do you believe is my true intent, if you are so keen on observation?"

"I dunno. That's why I asked. Though I'd guess and say you just want to get out of here."

"That is a rational assumption." Aldaris gave a small nod. "Most of my actions to this point have been to investigate the cause of my arrival here and to return my vessel to its proper working order, each to make progress toward the goal of returning. Yet now that I have had the chance to see this Starcraft game, I have become curious of its origins."

"Well, I can find out some for you." I thought about it a minute. "Uh, there's this guy named Chris Metzen, and I know he was involved in a lot of the writing. Of course the thing is, the guy that writes the plot isn't necessarily the one that makes everything happen. I was involved in this Starcraft mod once, and even though I ended up being the main writer, a lot of plot came from the mapmakers, because they're the ones that have to turn a story into something interactive. Other than me finding out stuff, how exactly are you going to learn about this? Were you planning on talking to Metzen or some other Blizzard guy?"

"No. If it is at all avoidable, no other humans shall learn of my existence. To put it plainly, my goal is to learn whatever interests me and then depart, with Earth none the wiser."

"I find this plan...well, acceptable." I shrugged. "I can't help but feel like there's something important I'm not considering, but I won't tell on you. I'll talk to the guys about it. Of course, there's the question of figuring out how you got here. Do you have any leads on that?"

"There is considerable information on my computer's logs. Over time, the information shall become decipherable."

"And so you have no idea how long that'll take?"

Aldaris hesitated only slightly. "No."

"Okay. In that case, we'll have to come up with a plan B; how you're going to tell the Earth you're around but just minding your own business."

"Absolutely not!" Aldaris glared at me. "I have no wish to involve myself in human matters, or find your unscrupulous leaders demanding Protoss technology from me in exchange for rights that are worthless to me the moment I stray outside Earth's atmosphere. I shall in no way advance human technology, especially when doing so would provide your race the ability to attack our own."

"And then everything suddenly became clear." I grinned for only a moment. "Look dude, us humans don't need your technology to fight you. If we had to shoot you down, we have nuclear missiles and I think that missile defense thing that President Reagan was going on about back in the day managed to get some funding. And that's assuming we even know how to find you. I can't promise every politician you might happen to meet isn't a scumbag, but the Starcraft universe is pretty dystopian compared to Earth; not all our leaders are like Mengsk. Right now the attitude on Earth is very friendly toward aliens, particularly with Star Wars, Star Trek, and Doctor Who all popular. Few leaders are going to be dumb enough to try and get technology from you, and I promise right here and now that I'm not going to steal for them. Heck, anybody who could steal can only get on your ship with your permission, so yeah. The same kind of precautions you'd take if humans knew about you are basically the same kind of precautions you'd take without us knowing."

"I have already made it perfectly clear to you that I have no intention of revealing myself to anyone." Aldaris glared. "Your attempt to persuade me otherwise is foolish and unwelcome."

"I'm not trying to persuade you. It's just something you're going to have to consider at some point whether you want to or not. Even if us four peeps that know about you now don't say a word, there's always the chance you'll get caught. Like maybe you accidentally do something to alert our satellites, or your cloaking goes out. Or you'll get so sick of staring at these walls all the time that one day you'll just get bored and want to go on a walk, and someone'll be all like, 'Hey, that's not a tree!'"

"The Templar are known for dwelling in space for as much as five Aiuran years." Aldaris retorted. "Though I am no Templar, my own training can see me through a reasonably comparable period of time."

"That's not even the point. Unless you figure out what to do pretty quickly, you're going to get sick of this ship sooner or later." I winced, steeling myself for Aldaris' possible reaction to what I was about to say. "And that's assuming you find out what happened at all. Maybe you just don't have the right information, and you'll be stuck here...for the rest of your life."

"The gods forbid that such a thing should happen!" Aldaris recoiled, pulling away from me as if being too close to me would make it come true. "Surely I have done nothing worthy of that punishment."

"Pssht. Earth's not that bad. Except North Korea. And North Sudan. And Cuba. But there's no reason you'd have to live in any of those places. But like I said, it's a plan B. If you really want to hold off, that's fine. I'm just saying it's probably better to have a plan of your own rather than just be incidentally discovered, push comes to shove."

"Though I acknowledge the logic of what you say, but I pray such precautions shall prove unnecessary."

A dopey grin grew on my face as I thought of a plan. "Hey, you know what would be really hilarious? If there was this really massive Starcraft tournament with all the best players, and the guy that wins gets a special match against a mystery opponent, only it turns out it's you. You would teleport down into the arena, and a hush would go over the crowd. And then, mere seconds later, everyone starts screaming and cheering so loud you can't hear anything else and it would be GLORIOUS!"

I blinked, slowly coming down out of the purple and pink clouds of my humorous little fantasy, only to be met with the reality that was Aldaris' face, his white goatee distorted by a look of disgust. I tried my hardest not to giggle. It was really hard, but I managed to contain my glee and show only a devious grin.

"You are mad." Aldaris ever so slowly shook his head. "I genuinely fear for the future of your planet."

"Aw, come on, you have to admit that it's a cute idea."

"I most certainly do not. And doubtlessly you would expect me to lose such a competition."

"Actually, it'd be funnier if you won. Then the next year you'd be the guy to beat."

"I grow weary of this conversation." Aldaris rose from his chair, shaking his head. "Perhaps it is time I return you home."

"Aw, you don't like my idea..."

"Of course I dislike it. Not for anything would I learn to play such a disturbing game, much less master it."

Aldaris opened the door to the storage room, and I obediently followed him out once I had my laptop tucked under my arm. I walk pretty fast for a human, but it still must have been pretty annoying for him to have to wait on the little person with the shorter strides. To his credit, he actually tried not to show this on his face, but went slowly and turned back each time he inevitably got too far ahead in the hall.

"Y'know, if you're going to be annoyed at me for being a little person with little strides," I snorted. "You could have left me back in the storage room."

"And leave the little child alone without the giant pile of distractions?" Aldaris said. "She might wander about aimlessly in the quest to satisfy her short attention span."

"For your information, 'the little child' still hasn't figured out how to open doors on this ship." Oh great, what other weird stuff was dude getting from my mind? More to make myself stop wondering about the possibilities, I changed the subject. "Oh hey, there's something I meant to tell you. I still have some of that _won_ we found on your ship our first time here."

"You should have given that to Cheonha." Aldaris replied.

"Yeah, I should've." I admitted. "But I didn't think of it in time, and neither did she. So for now I'm just going to consider it your money since you 'found' it. I spent some of it in Korea, but I counted the rest of it, and I've set up some accounts on my computer to keep track of it."

"Why would you bother?" he asked. "I have no need for human money."

"We don't know that for sure. Besides it's not like we can return the money. What are we going to do, go to Korea and ask if anyone's missing a million _won_? And I can't think of any legal reason that someone would give away cash instead of transferring money through a bank."

"Whatever amuses you." Aldaris rolled his eyes as he opened the doors to the bridge. \\\ "I do not plan on using it. With the favor of the gods I shall escape this scenario within a short period of time."

"Okay. If you leave before spending it, I'll donate it to something Korean."

I entered the bridge ahead of Aldaris. He pointed to a spot on the floor, and I stood there. Maybe I shouldn't be so compliant with this guy, but eh, if I'm going to argue with him about something, I'll pick my battles better. Especially when I'm not on the planet.

Aldaris stepped toward the computer, but suddenly paused. The glow in his eyes dimmed ever so slightly, and two seconds later he started to sink down, and an awkward hand went out to grasp the "captain's" chair. I instantly rushed over and grabbed his arm to support him.

Only whatever it was, it was just as suddenly over. Aldaris' eyes went back to demon red, and his feet stabilized against the floor. Offended, he shoved me away with a lot more force than I expected from someone still forcing himself up into a fulling standing position by hanging onto a chair.

"Do not touch me again." he hissed. "Or you shall suffer for it."

I stepped back from him, not frightened but instead confused. I only stared at him, confused. _Do you really think I wouldn't help you if I saw you in need?_ I found myself thinking automatically. Quickly I shook my head. That's a weird thing to think. I can't blame him for wanting personal space, and in his perspective, I'm a weirdo midget. So I backed away.

"Excuse me for being concerned."

"There is no need for concern." Aldaris retorted, straightening himself. "Mind your own business."

He didn't seem to be lying. He wasn't limping as he went to the console, and his eyes retained their normal glowing coal affect. In fact, the momentary stumble seemed never to have happened at all, the way Charlie ignored it.

Aldaris turned around as he reached the console, his hand still hovering over the controls. "I hope to end these sessions of Starcraft soon. Expect to return in a short time."

"Okay. I'll be ready."

"Then I shall see you then."

The blue mist rose up again, and the ship once again was replaced by my house.

"Well," I put my laptop on the table and stretched. "Maybe...just maybe, I now want some ice cream." I sure hope walking to the gas station burns off all the calories.

Then for just a moment, I paused. What was I doing? Surely I had to think. Who is there to talk to about aliens? And who do I talk to in order to find out about Starcaft. I'd take the time to slack and get ice cream, but that could mean our dear friend Charlie trying to find out about Starcraft himself. Or maybe he'd just get annoyed and yell at me or something. Either way, research was in order. I sighed, grabbed my power cord, and booted up to go do an internet search.

"Dang..." I muttered. "And I really wanted some ice cream."


	12. Things Left Unsaid

**Nissa has entered the chatroom.**

**Nissa**: Moo. Where are you guys?

Moo. Moooo.

I hate time zone differences.

...

**Nissa**: I'm bored

Ori Dori

Kili fili

Oin Gloin

Balin Dwalin

Bifur Bofur Bombur

Uh...There's Thorin of course.

Um, that's only twelve. I'm missing one.

Crap.

**Statkus has entered the chatroom.**

**Nissa**: Hey

Your chat name is your real name?

**Statkus**: Hello.

I don't like fake names.

**Nissa**: Why not? They're fun.

**Statkus**: Meh. Any news on the alien front?

**Nissa**: Yeah

He said that he just wants to figure out how to leave and go

but he also wants to know more about Blizzard.

**Statkus**: Find out anthing?

*anything?

**Nissa**: Not really

Hard to get information on Blizz that's online

Interviews don't tell much

Mostly warcraft

**Statkus**: i haven't played that in years

**Nissa**: you live in Cali

Can you go to Irvine?

**Statkus**: Oh sure, I find the building that's Blizzard

And then go in and ask if I can find out why they made starcraft?

Weird

**Dr. Whooves has entered the chatroom.**

**Dr. Whoove**s: 'ello

what is going on?

**Nissa**: nm

I showed Charlie the Protoss missions

**Statkus**: This is a "lolspeak" free zone

And that's "nevermind", not "not much"

**Dr. Whooves:** ooh, he didnt freak about dying?

stfu statkus

**Nissa**: lol rofl

**Statkus**: ...

**Nissa**: nah, Charlie was...calm, I guess. More mad at Zeratul than anything else.

**Dr. Whooves**: zeratul?

whats he mad at zer for?

**Nissa**: Besides the whole Aiur thing

he's mad at Zer for listening to Kerri

thinks he should have known better

**Statkus**: Zeratul should have, maybe.

I don't know, we weren't there

**Nissa**: Thing is, if you're an infested human who just got free of the Zerg Overmind, wouldn't you try and go find your human friends instead of trying to be buddy buddy with Toss?

The only Toss Kerri really knows are people who hate her.

**Dr. Whooves**: good point.

i didn't think of that.

**Nissa**: did you beat the game yet?

**Dr. Whooves**: i cheated my way through

just to see the story

i'm still on the toss missions on my non-cheat run

**Statkus**: What did you say?

Nissa?

**Nissa**: what?

**Statkus**: when Charlie said that he just wanted to fix his ship and leave?

**Nissa**: I said I'd talk to you guys

But it sounded like a good idea to me

**Statkus**: ...

**Dr. Whooves**: i don't know

**Statkus**: I know you like him or something, but he hasn't hearend our trust yet

*earned

**Dr. Whooves**: i wish i could talk to him

i don't really know what to do at all.

**Statkus**: You saw Protoss missions, right, Toby?

**Dr. Whooves**: yes

charlie's a jerk

**Statkus**: I know...

**Dr. Whooves**: i mean, i like aliens and things

but i didn't think the first alien i met would be someone who thinks tassadar should have killed more humans

**Nissa**: That was because the human worlds were infested

and Charlie thought blasting them would get rid fo the problem.

**Statkus**: ...Excuse me while I bang my head into my desk.

**Nissa**: The confederacy let the zerg rise up. Their fault.

**Statkus**: So you're just going to trust this guy to not cause trouble?

**Nissa**: what trouble would he cause? I've already discussed things with him

If this is his past timeline, he'll only ensure humans learn anti-Toss technology

If this isn't his past timeline, he won't do anything at all

**Dr. Whooves**: that's what i thought

**Nissa**: Even though his morals are different from ours, he has morals.

Prolly won't shoot us

**Dr. Whooves**: he's kind of a prude

he might shoot at porn sattelites

**Nissa**: that's hilarious. I approve

**Statkus**: ...Bethany, whose side are you on?

**Nissa**: I'm on nobody's side, because nobody's on my side

**Dr. Whooves**: lol

lotr ref

**Statkus**: Yes, that's for sure.

**Nissa**: Well, I wanted to talk to you guys because I wanted to know if you could see a problem with his plan.

You know, him staying until he can get back

**Statkus**: How fast can he get the ship fixed?

**Nissa**: he doesn't know. Seems pretty confident about it.

**Statkus**: We don't have the authority to give him permission.

**Dr. Whooves**: does anybody?

nobody owns space

**Nissa**: My question is, no matter who gives permission, is there something inherently harmful in letting him hang out in space?

**Statkus**: The United Nations should say if he can.

**Nissa**: The WHAT?

The UN is a pile of useless beauracrats who waste money and time.

**Statkus**: They're the only multi-national authority.

**Nissa**: The only thing they're good at is talking trash about Israel and supporting suicide bombers

Don't care. They've accomplished nothing.

**Statkus**: Paranoid.

To answer your question, Charlie isn't the sort of person who leaves well enough alone.

**Dr. Whooves**: he's got a bad temper

**Statkus**: I think if we leave Charlie there he's going to do something we don't like.

Soon enough something's going to irritate him.

**Nissa**: Okay, so wht's the solution to that?

**Statkus**: We have to keep an eye on him.

No deal unless that.

**Nissa**: Do we know who to contact in the government just in case?

**Statkus**: There's lots of UFO sightings organizations

I think they'll listen

We just won't say Protoss.

**Nissa**: email me a list.

**Statkus**: No, I can copy/paste

HBCC UFO Research

National UFO Reporting Center

Mutual UFO Network

Center for UFO Studies Sightings Report

**Nissa**: handy

Write up a letter for them

**Statkus**: Trust me, I have.

I'm also copy/pasting all conversations we have on the topic

**Dr. Whooves**: i can phone the telegraph

the media would love a story on aliens

**Statkus**: Great.

**Dr. Whooves**: it would be an absolute sensation

**Statkus**: We just need evidence.

**Nissa**: Evidence?

I already told Charlie I wasn't going to steal his stuff.

**Statkus**: No.

He might catch you.

Just pictures and video.

**Nissa**: I don't know...

I want him to feel like he can trust me

Not like he's a prisoner or something.

**Statkus**: The trouble with your plan is that there's no consideration in case of emergency.

What do we do if he doesn't listen?

**Dr. Whooves**: he's hundreds of years old

is he really going to listen to anyone?

**Statkus**: So you agree with Bethany, then?

**Dr. Whooves**: i think so

it's better to get him on our side

if we can

**Statkus**: This is Aldaris we're talking about.

He's too stubborn.

**Dr. Whooves**: exactly

so we shouldn't force him to do anything

make him think he's being nice on his own

**Statkus**: And how do we do that?

**Dr. Whooves**: idk

i wish he would talk to me

**Statkus**: Life is not Dr. Who.

The chances of something going horribly wrong are pretty high.

**Nissa**: And they wouldn't be if we tried to film him?

**Statkus**: We just need to be prepared

**Dr. Whooves**: it's pretty hard to prepare against someone who can read your mind

**Nissa**: My point exactly.

**Statkus**: So we just wait until he does something wrong, then?

**Nissa**: Negotiations are complex things.

**Statkus**: I wish the one he talked to the most wasn't the most flaky person in the group.

**Nissa**: Hey!

you had your chance.

**Statkus**: ...Whatever. Just let him know he's not going to get away with anything stupid.

**Nissa**: I'll try.

**Statkus**: I have to go. My girlfriend is here.

**Nissa**: 'k

See you later

**Dr. Whooves**: bye

**Statkus has left the chatroom.**

**Nissa**: Dr. Whooves?

**Dr. Whooves**: ?

**Nissa**: BROOOOOONYYYY

**Dr. Whooves**: lol.

and proud of it

i wonder what charlie is doing right now

**Nissa**: Dunno

maybe bored out of his mind

**Dr. Whooves**: i would be pretty bored too

i don't want to be on a ship forever.

-t-

The light shone in his face, its brightness stinging at even his eyes. It had been some time since Aldaris had been in the light such a bright sun, and as he stood there with his eyes shut, he could imagine that the scenery around him was the ancestral home of his family. He could feel himself standing in the open valley before the country cottage, surrounded on all sides by trees and the pathway to the seaside. The cottage, one story like the most ancient of Protoss architecture, lay extended over a small hill like a blanket. Aldaris almost expected that he would turn around and see its wooden eaves and tan plaster walls again.

It was the thought of his mother standing at the door that brought down his little fantasy. Certainly, she had been there in the past, standing at the door in her traditional _karagou _robe, waiting for her son to return so that together they could prepare for the summer festival in the Pyrgos province. However, his mother had been deceased for many years,reminding him that the scenario in his head was a distant memory and no better than a fantasy. Her death was peaceful and unremarkable, nothing at all like those lost in the Aiuran war. It pained him to think what might have happened to his mother's grave in the advent of the Zerg.

At that point Aldaris forced his eyes open. Instantly his dream collapsed. The scene that replaced it was at least better than thoughts of Zerg-ravaged Aiur; instead of trees older than his grandfather before him, there was a massive cliff, leading down into the ocean. Humans called it the Pacific. What few trees there were far smaller in scale, some distance back from the cliff. Many looked to the Judicator more like massive bushes. They were, however, inoffensive, and the sparse grass that grew beneath his feet was at least more pleasant than the sands of Shakuras.

Though the sun was bright, Aldaris shuddered. As much as the Dark Templar seemed to like the smoky haze that was Shakuras' cloud cover throughout its year, he'd always known he could scarcely tolerate a world where only the moonlight could shine through such a mist. The only place on that blue, blue planet Aldaris felt even slightly at home was at the Xel'Naga temple, where somehow the presence of the ancients was palpable.

Aldaris stood there in the morning light, forced to admit to himself that there was nothing especially wrong with Earth as a planet, at least what he'd seen so far and absent of whatever the humans had done to it. Even his disdain for the type of tree was really a personal choice; they were simply too small. Now that the Judicator found himself in such a peaceful place, he realized that all he really missed were his companions. Aiur was gone, and he had no home on Shakuras. All that really called to him were his companions, those loyal to the Khala, all depending on him, waiting in the sands of Shakuras for their leader to arrive.

And he would not. Because he was here. On Earth. While everything he'd stood for was mocked by the little creatures, all ignorant that their computer game was his true life.

Aldaris shut his eyes again. The strength of this sun refreshed him, and he could feel it soak into his skin and give him strength. It was a strong light, and part of him wondered if Earth's star was younger than Aiur's. How embarrassing it was to have stumbled in front of Bethany! He hadn't realized how low his energy had gotten. Artificial light only went so far in sustaining a Protoss, and he'd been stuck on his ship for several weeks. As much as he hated to admit it, even if only to himself, the human was right; he was obliged to leave his vessel after a time.

_I am no Templar...I am of the Ara tribe, the family of Pereclus._ Aldaris' eyes darkened along with his thoughts as he stared at his hands. _One cannot modify the inheritance of the body._

Aldaris paused. He extended his hands before himself, staring at his fingers as he stretched them in the light. They moved better, he thought, and as he clenched and relaxed his hands the stiffness he'd suffered from them the past two weeks melted away. The sunlight here was more than enough to soothe his condition and render it ignorable, at least for a while.

**_Brrrrrrinnng!_**

The jolting noise snapped Aldaris out of his thoughts. He silently cursed his lack of caution and instantly scanned his surroundings as he went for the nearest clump of trees. The Judicator detected the mental presence of a human not too far away, and with relief noted that the man felt annoyance - not anger, confusion, or anything more logical for someone who had just seen a giant alien in his yard. Apparently this person found the sound as annoying as Aldaris did.

Curious, Aldaris extended his powers. He couldn't hear any audible sounds from that distance, but with only a little mental effort, he could make out a conversation by listening to the man's mind. It never occurred to Aldaris that he was being rude, and had it, there is no guarantee he would have cared.

"Hello?" said the local human.

"Mr. Kensley? It's Tom." a voice burdened with worry spoke. Aldaris sensed that this person was not present, so they must have been communicating with some sort of machine. "There's been an emergency...it's Alice."

"What happened?"

"She was in a really bad accident. She's in the hospital now, and I don't know if she's going to make it out of surgery..."

Aldaris listened with one "ear" and with the other examined the thoughts of this "Mr. Kensley". He was an adult male, not too recently widowed, and Alice was his daughter. He lived alone in the country, and his daughter lived at some place called San Francisco.

He could not be snuck up on a second time. Aldaris detected instantly the violent impulse directed toward him, even before the sound of frantic barking distracted him from the phone conversation. Up through the underbrush came a dog that only humans would call large. The brown thing still barked and snapped at him, but didn't dare come close. Aldaris already had hold of its mind.

"_Sharashnana, Raasha...polempatul sharashnana..._"

The chant and simultaneous neural connective technique worked best on Aiuran animals, but it seemed to do for this dog. After all, in theory it would work on any domesticated animal. Aldaris looked into its mind and forced his way into its emotional core, silencing it and having it sit down. Kensley was still having his conversation with Tom, and he wanted to know what was going to happen. The talk between the humans did not last much longer. Soon enough, the sound of a door opening and slamming jolted the countryside.

_Is everything about this human obnoxiously loud?_

Mr. Kensley graciously confirmed Aldaris' theory by yelling out for his dog.

"Wolf! Woooolf!" the man shouted. "Where are you, boy?"

Aldaris turned to the dog. It lay there, peering out at him with its somber brown eyes. With slight gesture of the hand, Aldaris released it. Instantly Wolf took off, heading for the sound of his master's voice. The Protoss waited a couple of minutes, slowly going nearer to what he knew had to be a house of some kind. Soon enough the ingratiating sound of a Terran motor engine roared into the air, then faded out as Mr. Kensley departed. Aldaris waited only a few minutes longer inspecting this person's homestead with a critical eye.

_Good. _Aldaris raised a hand over the quorrian embelm tied tightly around his left shoulder, lightly touching the deep purple gem on its surface. _This place shall perhaps prove useful to me in the short term._

With the flick of his fingers, the embelm produced a cloud of blue smoke. When it blew away, the Protoss was gone, with no one to witness the disappearance but a small chorus of birds.


	13. Dirt

**You are Sam McManus, son of Jarred McManus, the miner, son of Caleb McManus, also the miner, son of Cain McManus, who had come all the way from planet Earth on the Argo to come and settle on the Koprullu Sector planet of Moria. Cain wasn't a miner; he was a criminal responsible for thefts upwards of ten million dollars, but the family never talked about that. You were a mining family and nothing else, as far as Pop is concerned.**

**As you might expect, you're a miner too. in fact, you're on the way to work right now, headed for second shift in the mines of Mt. Tracy. Your father and your two older brothers won't be joining you yet. They get to work through the night on third shift. Their pay is much better, but since you're only barely seventeen, you don't get to spend the night blasting in caves for the gold and the minerals. You get to shovel rocks and rubble into the sorter so that the gold can be removed from the plain ol' rocks. Yippee.**

I grinned. This was a great way to start the story. Granted, it would be nice if I had an actual title for this story, but what are you going to do? I figure I'll write up the rest of the story and decide what I want to name it later. After all, writing a "choose your own adventure" story is bound to take a while. There's plenty of time to name it something. No need to rush.

"Aldaaarissss!" I yelled. "I'm boooooored agaaaaaain!"

Nothing.

"Dang it..."

I almost contentedly typed away at the computer in my living room, not really expecting anything to happen. It'd been a while since anything interesting happened...so I work at a bookstore and haven't done much besides go swimming in the pool. Some journal, huh? There was that time when a neighbor of mine had their apartment burn down, but I was at a coffeeshop at the time and missed most of the excitement. Other than that, I made friends with a half-stray named Smoky. Not exactly riveting stuff. Smoky is pretty cute, though. The neighbor said that if I put cat food out, she'll kill the mice that've been in the neighborhood lately.

And thus for the sake of my journal, I was pretty happy when I heard the distinctive voice of nobody's favorite authority figure. Well, sort of. Charlie wasn't in the best of moods.

"What are you doing?" Aldaris' voice, rather impatient, sounded in my head.

"I'm just writing a Starcraft fanfiction." I replied, chirpy as ever. For some reason doing something Aldaris disapproves of is just hilarious to me. "It's a choose your own adventure thing, and I figure if I can write it up pretty well, Blizzard will actually publish it."

Aldaris didn't actually say anything, but he hadn't left; I could still sense his contempt in my head for several seconds of silence. And I'm pretty sure he could sense how amused I was. That made me even more amused.

"And you sincerely believe that this is a profitable course of action?" he finally said.

"Well, not really. Blizzard will probably just send me a rejection letter for legal reasons. But I want to try anyway." I went ahead and shut down my computer. I'm not willing to risk being teleported with it on and then something bad happening to the hard drive. "If it does get published, it'll be pretty sweet, but even if it doesn't, I can just post it online and hopefully people will like it. Don't worry, you're not in it."

"Because I am 'dead', I suppose."

"Well...yeah. That, and with you being real and non-historical I don't have the right to use your identity." I grabbed my Brood War disc. "If you show up down here, you could sue me or something."

"Bethany," Aldaris' voice darkened. "I believe we have had this discussion before."

"Yeah, yeah, you're not coming down. I don't mean to pressure you or anything, I'm just saying. Anyway, are you ready to finish off Starcraft?"

"More than ready. Less than half of it remains, yes?"

"Yep. Just the final terran and Zerg missions of Brood War."

"Good. Are you prepared for transport?"

"Uh..." I looked around real quick and grabbed a little drawstring bag with some stuff in it. "Yep, now I am. Let's go!"

It must be annoying to travel by glowy blue clouds when you're trying to sneak away from an enemy. I thought as said clouds enveloped me. Probably more than once it's given away the Templars' position. Of course, if they're leaving then it doesn't always matter where they...what the heck?

Instead of being transported onto a ship, I found myself on the back patio behind someone's house. Someone's nice house, at that. A patio of concrete squares covered about thirty or so square feet in the back, forming a sort of porch for all the wicker furniture there: two loveseats, a chair and a lounge. It was indeed wicker-looking, but not at all cheap. The homey wooden structures were a nice dark brown, topped off with light green cushions and the occasional black and white floral pillow. Seriously, it was straight out of a catalog, other than some of the grass that stuck out between some of the concrete tiles.

The house was nice too. It was a two story building, from the looks of it. A set of glass double doors led into the kitchen; I could see a sink full of dirty dishes. The aggregate walls were a nice shade of white, almost perfect to serve as a projection screen. The tiny little crinkles in it probably wouldn't have much affect on how the projection looked. Yeah, the projector was there, set up on a needlessly fancy wicker table with a glass top. How rich was the person who lived here?

Behind me, two more bits of blue glow appeared and dissolved. One of them was a large chair, and the other was the Protoss intending to sit in it. I immediately folded my arms, staring directly up into Aldaris' smug face.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing." Aldaris replied lightly. "Do you not find this environment more comfortable than a storage chamber? I thought perhaps you would be grateful for a change of scenery."

"Just tell me what you did. Who lives in this house?"

"Someone surnamed Kensley." a calm Aldaris merrily ignored the human below as he set himself in his chair. The jerk. "He was called out of town for a family emergency."

My eyes widened in horror. Aldaris shook his head at me.

"An emergency I did not cause." he added. "Surely I would avoid interfering with the lives of any of your people, if only to hide my existence."

"Oookay..." I looked back at the house. "Who else lives here? That's kind of a big house for someone who lives by himself."

"The man does live alone, from what I was able to see. There is a grave in that direction, I believe of his wife who has apparently passed away some time in the previous year." As if appearing from nowhere, a brown dog suddenly hopped up on Aldaris' lap, and he didn't shove it off. Instead, he rubbed the thing as if it were his own pet. "Perhaps Kensley desires to remain here even without her."

"If you say so." The dog was cute, and from the tuft of fur running down his spine, I guessed it was a rhodesian ridgeback. What, you don't look up different breeds of dogs in your spare time just for the fun of it? Well, I like dogs, so I went up to pet it too. "He doesn't have any neighbors headed this direction to check on the house, does he?"

"Not that I am aware, though no mind greater than a small animal can come nearby without my noticing it."

I reached out for the dog to scratch behind his ears, and all of a sudden the innocent looking lapdog snarled, and if Aldaris hadn't been holding it back, it might have done some serious damage to my hand. No thanks, dog! I've got my ears pierced, and that's all the piercings I need.

"Inneen, Raasha, inneen! Maksaleen." Aldaris patted the dog on the head. "Bethany, this breed of animal is extremely aggressive. Its kind is unaccepting of those it does not find familiar."

I blinked. "What did you to do that dog?"

"Nothing." Aldaris replied as he scratched its shoulders. "It likes me."

"Yeah, right. You did something to that dog's brain, didn't you?"

"Why do you make such an assumption?" Aldaris didn't have to have a mouth to make a wry smile. "Is it so difficult to believe that I am good with animals?"

I stared at him in complete disbelief. He was way too amused for someone telling the truth. "Yes it is. In fact, I am detecting extreme amounts of bullcrappery from your general direction.

"Good for you." Aldaris continued to pet the dog. "Now go and set up your computer. It is my desire to see this Brood War though, and I tire of your accusations."

"My accusations that are completely true."

"Why, Bethany, it is offensive how little you think of me."

"Another lie. You don't care at all what I think about you."

"Very well, I am caught; your opinion does not concern me in the slightest. Now go set up your computer, for I know how it amuses you to torment me with this game of yours."

"Alright," I chuckled, walking off to the projector. "I guess I got to see it through, then."

It never takes me long to set things up. The model projector Aldaris has is a pretty good one, easy to work with, and it was already plugged into an outlet outside the stranger's house. I felt bad, though. The projector, as wells as all that random stuff that got beamed up on Charlie's ship, had to have come from somewhere. I just hoped that he didn't take anything important from someone that's poor. I made the mistake of looking back at Charlie as I thought of this.

"Bethany." growled the massive Protoss sitting behind me. "I thought I told you not to ascribe to me that human name."

"I didn't say it. I was just thinking about it."

"There is little difference. " he retorted. "Would you enjoy it if I replaced yours?"

"Are you kidding me? I'd love a Protoss name! That would be so cute! I..."

I turned back to get his reaction, and that was a mistake. What greeted me was the most crinkled, ugly face I'd ever seen, and for a moment it looked like Aldaris would sic the dog on me. I laughed out loud.

"Don't take it so seriously." my laughing didn't help, but it took a minute for me to settle down. "Charlie's just what us conspirators call you when we're talking on the internet, so that just in case someone gets hold of our chat records, they have no idea what we're talking about. It's just a nickname. Besides, replacing my name wouldn't be so bad. 'Bethany' means house of poverty."

"_Maiasha N'Gukhol I'n_." Aldaris murmured. "That is not quite catchy."

"Huh? What was that supposed to be?"

"Your Protoss name. 'House of poverty'. I hope you like it."

I turned and stared at him. "Charlie, why're you dang so mean?"

"Am I more cruel than your parents? Activate Starcraft. Your nonsensical conversation tries my patience."

And I did. As you recall, the Terran missions of Brood War are all about the United Earth Directorate, where they're trying to take down Mengsk. The missions introduced Duran, and the psi disruptor gets "destroyed" by Stukov. All through this, Aldaris is silent. I glanced back a few times, and he just sat there, seemingly more interested in just messing with the dog. He watched the game, but it got no reaction out of him whatsoever. It wasn't until I got to the mission where we go after Emperor Mengsk that he finally spoke.

"This is quite dull." Aldaris rather loudly, which is a weird sensation for someone who doesn't speak audibly. He shoved the dog off his lap and slumped back in his seat like a tired child ready to leave a movie theater. "More dull than the parts before it."

"I don't remember you being bored watching the Protoss missions." I chuckled. "But yeah, it's just that all the real plot is with the Protoss and the Zerg at the moment."

"That much is certain. Perhaps it is a false hope considering that the Protoss missions have finished, but shall I learn much more of the condition of the Protoss?"

Power Overwheming is such a good cheat. It's really handy when the game tries to nuke them all and you're on a run to make the plot go by as fast as possible. I directed these survivors to Mengsk's command center as I answered Charlie's question.

"Not that much, but terribly important things." I said. "Like what happens to the Matriarch for example."

"Who?"

"Y'know, Raszagal."

"Ah yes, I had forgotten. We did not refer to her with a human word, and in fact do not use many of the human words which describe the Protoss in this game."

"Oh? So you're not really a Judicator?"

"You may as well refer to me in that manner. The Protoss word for my caste is similar enough."

"So what is that Protoss word?"

The fake, invincible troops on screen could destroy a command center without my help, so I went ahead and turned to look when Aldaris didn't answer. All I got was the blank stare of his rather gingerbreadman-looking eyes.

"I'm not getting an answer to that, am I?"

"You have completed the objective." Aldaris pointed to the screen. "I wish to see what will happen."

Well, nothing I could do about that. Back to the screen, I guess. To be fair, watching Raynor save Mengsk is one of the more bizarre and interesting scenes in Starcraft. I tried not to turn and look at Aldaris again. He doesn't like it when I try and see his reaction to things. He hasn't come out and said as much, but with Toss, does he really have to? All the same, I could only imagine how his features torqued at watching that utterly obtuse moment when Raynor comes in and saves the person primarily responsible for all the bullcrap that's happened to him in the past game.

Giving in to my curiosity, I turned back to find that Aldaris wasn't reacting at all, at least not outwardly. Charlie was just sitting there, his fingers clutched together thoughtfully at his chin. He continued to be thoughtfully silent throughout all the rest of the Terran campaign. At that point, I had to admit I was starting to get bored. It's more than a little nerve-wracking to show someone their home universe with them brooding behind you, and honestly, sometimes some of Aldaris' outbursts are pretty dang hilarious. When playing Starcraft with nothing more than a silent, brooding giant behind you...that's really something pretty creepy. But hey, I said I'd play the game, and play I did.

"Wait." Aldaris finally said. "Dugalle only learns of Kerrigan's existence at the end of it all?"

"Yep." I nodded.

"Then what exactly does the Earth Directorate know when it comes to the Koprullu Sector?" Aldaris leaned his head on his hand. "Their plans were entirely foolish, if they knew nothing of her. Perhaps there were many things they did not understand about the war. Had they more plans than simply domineering the Terrans of the sector?"

"Not that I know of." I said. "Though they're not Terrans."

"Who? DuGalle and the UED?"

"No, everybody in the K Sector. They're not from Terra, so they're not Terrans."

"And where exactly is this 'Terra'?"

I laughed. "You're sittin' on it, Charlie."

Aldaris paused a moment, giving me an odd look as though I was lying to him. "I was led to believe that your planet was called 'Earth'."

"That's the same thing as Terra, just in english instead of latin." I nodded. "They both mean the same thing."

"And that is?"

I kicked at the ground to emphasize my point, but it didn't really work because I was still on the concrete patio. "Dirt."

"Dirt?" Aldaris exclaimed. "The very ground you walk upon?"

"Yeah. Hence something is 'unearthed' if it gets dug up from the ground. I think it's supposed to be a reference to a goddess of the harvest, or of the Biblical reference to us being made out of dirt. Or that this is the only planet in the solar system that supports life. Or all three at once. Though I have to say that my favorite name for the planet is 'Thulcandra'. It's not official, but it's cool sounding. It means 'the silent planet'. It's a concept C. S. Lewis came up with in his space trilogy when the spirits quarantined the spirits of Earth because they had started a war with the spirits of Mars, or that is, Malacandra."

"As much as you enjoy filling the air with these inane ramblings," Aldaris said. "I much prefer that you cease attempting to make yourself sound intelligent and continue with Starcraft until its completion."

"And I will! As soon as I have a bathroom break." I got up from my chair, though paused before heading to the back doors of the house. "Hey wait, that door probably is locked, isn't it?"

"No. It is open."

I raised an eyebrow. Well, I tried to raise an eyebrow, but I can't raise one without raising the other. It's very undramatic. "Um, how did you arrange that?

"Why do you insist upon asking questions when you do not desire the answers?"

"I dunno, maybe there's something wrong with me. I've been acting funny ever since I started hanging out with this weirdo alien guy."

I scooted in through the doors before Aldaris could reply. Oh wait, since he's not dependant on sound waves, I guess he didn't want to comment. Anyway, the guy Kensley had a nice house. I mean, aside from the fact his muddy boots were in the middle of the kitchen and there was a pile of dishes in the sink to rival any bachelor, the kitchen looked almost like one of those catalog models with the nice black tile counters and built-in island. It sure didn't smell like a model, but fortunately the smell of the kitchen didn't carry too far, and I was able to escape it once I scooted out through a dining room.

The living room was in front of me, but I instead went to the right down the hall to the bathroom. A cranky Protoss was waiting on me, and it's weird to poke around strangers' houses. Crap, first consorting with aliens, and now breaking and entering. This situation is really starting to get out of hand.

\\\\\\\\

Author's Notes:

- Sorry it's been so long. I've been taking classes lately, and I've just been coming into my own as far as getting a good pace in writing. Anyway, it's back.


End file.
